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The Jifundishe Free Library Knitting Club
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| Imbaseni Free Library Knitters |
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| In 2005, Jifundishe volunteer, Carrie Doggett started a knitting class at the Imbaseni Free Library for local women who wanted to learn how to knit. Since then, more than 30 women have come and learned to knit and currently the Knitting club meets three times a week at the Jifundishe Free Library. Their puppets, stuffed zebras, hats and scarves are sold in the U.S. and are available each year from the Jifundishe Holiday Shop. The women use donated yarn and needles as these supplies are not available in Tanzania. If you would like to help support the Knitting Club, please contact us at info@jifundishe.org.
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| Jifundishe Free Library Knitters |
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The Ngongongare Health Dispensary
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| The Ngongongare Clinic Under Construction |
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| In 2008, Jifundishe volunteer, Christina Burnham walked by an unfinished building on her way to the library. Upon learning that it was a village health dispensary that was abandoned by the local government due to lack of funds, she decided to make sure that the women of the village had access to a safe, close and clean place to deliver their babies. Raising the money for the building's completion, she opened the clinic on Septemeber 22, 2008. In July, 2009, our 850 Campaign provided over 1,300 of the village's poorest people with free health care at the clinic. Tanzania has one of the world's highest rates of maternal and infant mortality, due in part to the lack of access to local health care. The Ngongongare Clinic will provide thousands of women and babies with life-saving health services.
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| 850 Campaign Recipients |
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The Nkoanrua Science Laboratory
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| The Nkoanrua Secondary School Science Lab |
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| The success of Jifundishe’s programs has inspired donors from abroad to spread this mission of educational access for all. In 2007, with the support of the Crawford-Smith Foundation, Jifundishe built a fully equipped, modern science lab at the Nkoanrua Secondary School. Fewer than 5% of government secondary schools in Tanzania are equipped with a practical lab for the sciences. The lab is used daily by students, and is now the site of the yearly National Exam for Secondary Schools in this area. Jifundishe continues to support the science lab by updating equipment and materials.
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| School Officials Inspect the Equipment |
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Jiendeleze Women's Cooperative
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| Sara Waldheim and Jiendelze Women's Cooperative |
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| Sara Waldheim visited Jifundishe in 2008 and brought an idea for a product to be made by a women's cooperative. Using her idea, Jifundishe trained a group of women from the village, many having never been to school, to make the Barefoot Bead product. The women named their group Jiendeleze (advance yourself) and for the last year, they have been producing beautiful beaded foot jewelry for sale at coastal resorts in Tanzania and fair trade shops in the U.S. In addition to being paid a fair price for each piece made, the women also earn an equal amount which is deposited to a collective fund. This money is shared by the group via micro-lending and collective disbursement that has provided the women with seeds for planting, health services and eyeglasses.
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| Beautiful Barefoot Beads |
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