Programs in East Africa

Asante Africa Foundation is currently working in East Africa. Projects are in small villages in the northeast part of Tanzania (Mto Wa Mbu and Ilkurot), and in West Kenya (Narok and Limuru). In the future we hope to expand into other parts of East Africa, but in the next few years we will focus on building our credibility in the communities where we are currently working, and demonstrating to our donors that we are successfully doing what we say we will do.

Learn more about Tanzania tourism and United Nations Goals.

Learn more about Kenya tourism and United Nations Goals.

The East African Nations of Tanzania and Kenya

Tanzanian and Kenyan laws require that all children attend primary school, which is similar to American grade school. Due to the poverty levels and lack of government infrastructure there are few schools in many communities, and many that exist do not provide a quality education. Even in Kenya, where the school infrastructure is further along than in Tanzania, it is expensive to attend a "free" school due to the cost of uniforms, supplies and in many cases boarding facilities. A majority of children live in extremely rural and impoverished areas, where the hope of attending school is a distant dream to even the most academically gifted children.

In addition to financial obstacles, children face major infrastructure obstacles to attending school regularly. For example, a big part of every child's day, usually the girls, is spent fetching water for the family and the school, where it is used for daily needs such as preparing porridge and watering the trees and plants. Something as simple as watering the plants has huge health impacts, including keeping the dust down to reduce eye infections. With the closest water source for a village sometimes miles away, time spent fetching water is precious time not spent in school.

Asante Africa Foundation focuses on providing quality education in East Africa through three Program categories:

1. Creating Safer Places to Learn
2. Helping Teachers be Better Teachers
3. Providing the Gift of Education

Creating Safer Places to Learn

We recognize that schools need help meeting the fundamental environmental needs of students in order to make educational opportunities possible. Delivering education is not just about tuition, classrooms and teacher supplies - the first steps to a successful education often come in the shape of plumbing pipes, cement blocks, and rain-proof roofing. Boarding school makes it possible to get an education on a full stomach in a safe environment. Asante Africa Foundation are improving infrastructure by building new schools, adding classrooms to overcrowded schools, as well as improving access to water, food and sanitation. We are committed to understanding the true need from our local contacts and helping where we can be most effective in our mission.

Program Highlights of Creating Safer Places to Learn

Mto Wa Mbu is the village you travel through on any safari in the northern part of Tanzania. While there is significant tourism in the area, little of the tourists’ money makes its way into the school system. There are hundreds of young children in the Migungani neighborhood of Mto Wa Mbu, and no nursery or primary school facilities. The children are not being educated in their early years, and are unprepared for entering the school system later. Asante Africa Foundation helped build a nursery school, complete with classrooms, outhouses, desks and furniture in January 2007, in time for the beginning of the African school year. It is the first school in the neighborhood of Migungan, and serves approximately 120 children with two teachers conducting half-day sessions.

Migungani Nursery School construction – September 2006

Migungani Nursery School Opens in January, 2007

When we provided scholarships for girls to attend St. Mary's Primary School in Kenya, it was clear that we could work together to educate many more girls if there were more sleeping space. So while the school managed to accommodate our first 4 girls, we offered to build a new dormitory to make education a reality for more than 30 additional girls. Construction began in late 2006, and by Spring 2007 girls were moving in to the new facility.

Ten teachers at Jangwani Primary School school were educating more than 780 students in just five classrooms. There was no running water near the school and more than 130 children were sitting on boulders or the floor in the shell of unfinished buildings and under trees, trying to pay attention to their teachers. We added two classrooms, water lines and desks in 2006, and in January 2007 we completed two new classrooms, 40 more desks and more than 500 textbooks. We also established their first music program through the donation of recorders (flutes) and a guitar. They also said that children were sitting on mud floors and rocks, and crowded into just two classrooms. We also completed two classrooms that were started by the government, but remained unfinished for several years due to lack of funding.

Learn more about our progress on creating safer places to learn via this link.

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Building two more classrooms on to Jangwani Primary School

Desks for the new classrooms

Helping Teachers be Better Teachers

Even once the school facilities are in place, students have managed to attend, and teachers are hired, the ability to learn is greatly hindered by lack of books, supplies and teacher training. Asante Africa Foundation is committed to QUALITY in the students' education, which can only be delivered with adequate teaching staff and materials.

Highlights of helping teachers be better teachers

Establishing Music Programs

Music softens the edges of a hard life, and enriches the education of children at three schools in Tanzania through donated authentic African drums, guitars, recorders and a piano made possible by Asante Africa Foundation donors. The students learned to play through hours of practice, fueled by creative desire and commitment. They soon acquired a conductor and drum corps leader, and added singing and dancing so that everyone can express their creativity. Their energy now emanates from the instruments and their movements, filling the air with synchronized joy. Music is an uplifting and soothing addition to days of hardship in the village, and provides another way for teachers to enrich the educational programs in the school.

The children celebrate by welcoming Asante Africa Foundation visitors with a song.

Providing books and supplies

When we asked 10 teachers who support 780 children at Jangwani Primary School what they needed most, they showed us two math books, used for 100+ children. Asante Africa Foundation purchased more than 500 Swahili textbooks in all subjects and grade levels, to the delight of the teachers who know the impact the books would have on their ability to teach students more effectively.

Learn more about our progress in supporting teachers via this link.

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Future students find their seats and receive school supplies for their first day of class.

Sponsoring the Gift of Education

One of the greatest educational needs in East Africa is funding students' school costs. This is particularly true for young girls, who are often forced to undergo genital mutilation, despite it being illegal in Tanzania and Kenya, sold as child brides for livestock, and become pregnant so school is not an option. Asante Africa Foundation has established partnerships with local African community leaders who have made it their mission to help all children be valued, educated, and healthy. We sponsor girls and boys who are gifted, eager to learn, and financially challenged. Visit our "How you can help" page for more information on sponsoring a child for day or boarding school.

Scholarships for Migungani Nursery School are provided for orphans.

Highlights of Student scholarship program

Student Scholarships

Almasi's responsibility is greater than his 16 years of age. His family's survival depends on the food he helps provide, yet hunting for food was keeping him from attending school in Tanzania. The headmaster was concerned with the absences of this boy who was one of his brightest students with dreams of becoming a doctor. Almasi often disappeared for days. When he was persuaded to confess why he missed school, the headmaster understood. To keep Almasi enrolled, the headmaster gave him food from the teacher's rations, which allowed him to feed his family and still attend class. At the end of the school year, when this promising student received the highest scores in his grade, there was no money for secondary school. Again, Almasi's dreams of becoming a doctor were stalled. Today, Asante Africa Foundation's support gives Almasi a chance. His education is now sponsored, along with three other Tanzanian students at Lake Manyara

Learn more about our progress in student sponsorship via this link.

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Almasi studies hard to achieve his goal of being a doctor.