Listen to the voices of a few of our program participants. Their words and stories will inspire you. Jifundishe is committed to continuing these programs so that more people can take advantage of educational opportunities here in Tanzania.
Debora Mnyawi lives with her mother and five siblings in a small 7 foot square room in the village of Maji ya Chai. Debora and her mother participate in programs sponsored by Jifundishe. MamaDebora has joined the knitting club and has learned to knit and is able to produce small items for sale. She uses this money to help buy food for her children as well as for investing in vegetables for her small stall in the local market. About Jifundishe she says, “They listen to our needs and try to help us.” Debora is a Houston Scholarship Fund recipient. She was in her third year of secondary school when her mother simply did not have enough money to pay the ever-increasing school fees that would have allowed her to finish. The fund has paid for all of Debora’s school fees as well as her hospital bills to treat stomach ulcers. Read their story....
Sophia Warioba is the headmistress of NgongongareSecondary School, where Jifundishe sponsors 16 Houston Scholarship Fund recipients. The fund provides students who cannot afford secondary school with an education, paying fees like the school contribution and the uniform fee. She notes that The Jifundishe Free Library also has many books, including textbooks, that the students use when studying, increasing the students’ performance. In addition, volunteers from Jifundishe teach english and math courses at the school. The students have gained confidence in English, and the skills they learn help make them employable as well as able to help the community and improve their standard of life. “This organization has got a great help to our school,” Sophia says. Read Sophia's Story...
Head Teacher, Isaac Nanyaro has his hands full at Imbaseni Primary School. With close to 1,000 students and only 20 teachers, he tries hard to give the students what they need. There are no funds for books, so he is happy to be able to send them to the Jifundishe Free Library where all of the textbooks are available for them to use. He has many teachers who are pursuing teaching degrees at the local university and they are also using the textbooks available at the library for thier own studies. He knows how difficult it is for girls to succeed in school and is trying to work with Jifundishe to establish an after-school program for them at the library. His story is not unusual here. Primary schools are overcrowded and under-staffed all over Tanzania. Read his story...
Goodness Massawe, 24, speaks with her sister about the joy she feels because of the library saying everyone enjoys the newspapers and magazines, allowing the community to know about issues both urban and rural. Before going to the library, Goodness was idle, but since she first found someone to take her there, she has learned how to read and write. Now, she’s happy because she has things to do, including reading, writing, and taking part in a knitting group at the library through which she earns money. One day she hopes to work in an office. “Now she’s seeing different,” her sister says, “because she has something that she didn’t have before.” Goodness is thankful for the difference the library has made in her life, noting that without it, her life would be bad. Read her story...
Angelina Laisser feels lucky to have the Jifundishe Free Library. Through the library, the community has access to books as well as the news, in the form of magazines and newspapers. She herself found a book on pigs, which she relied upon to build the house for, and eventually raise her own pigs. In addition, she and several other women belong to a beading cooperative organized by Jifundishe. “It’s not a small project,” she explains, “it’s a way of earning money.” The money each woman earns from her beading is matched by Jifundishe and put into a collective fund which the women have used to buy seeds for farming and getting eye exams. In addition, Jifundishe distributed mosquito nets to all the families in the nearby villages to help prevent malaria. Read her story....
Jifundishe is a registered non-governmental organization that funds and manages projects for community development that provide educational opportunities to people living in rural villages. The organization was founded in 2003 and since its inception has funded and managed projects at orphanages, schools, health clinics and community centers. CONTACT US