Tanzania is a largely rural country, with approximately 80% of the workforce engaged in agriculture. However, there is a strong current of migration into towns and cities where people seek greater perceived opportunities.
Dar es Salaam is growing rapidly due to this migration, but the hope of a better job and more income is most often different from the reality of life in the city. Many people who have followed their dreams to Dar es Salaam end up without jobs, scrambling to make a living any way they can in the communities that spring up on the outskirts of the city. Some of these enterprises are illegal and risky, such as theft and sex work. Children who grow up in this type of environment are highly likely to get pulled into similar activities.
A World Renew partner organization, Asasi ya Chagua Maisha (ACHAMA), is a community-based organization working in three of these “outskirts” neighborhoods. It is a new organization that is made up largely of young people who live and volunteer in these same communities. ACHAMA was started by graduates of World Renew’s Stepping Stones training in HIV awareness and prevention program.
Zakayo Mwakipesile, an intern with World Renew who works as a program officer for ACHA-MA, provided the following stories of a change that is taking place in people’s lives.
In one community, World Renew is using the Chagua Maisha (Choose Life) curriculum in primary and secondary schools to teach HIV awareness and prevention. Before the training started, many of the teenagers considered it normal to engage in risky behaviors that can lead to an HIV infection, such as drinking, drug use, and multiple sexual partners. Since community facilitators from ACHAMA chose a few students to train as peer educators using the Choose Life curriculum, there has been a positive impact on the student body overall and as a result, the number of students that engage in risky behavior is reported by their teachers to have declined.
ACHAMA members started a chicken project as a way to build solidarity when they were participating in Stepping Stones training. They also wanted their project to become self-sustaining.
The members began the project by investing $625, purchasing 250 chickens. Since then, the flock has grown to 400 chickens. ACHAMA has used the income from the chicken project to cover some of their organizational expenses and a committee is monitoring the progress of this project.
Prayer Points:
- Remember World Renew staff, our partner staff, and volunteers as they often work in risky situations, are vulnerable to road accidents, and are exposed to diseases such as malaria.
- Give thanks for a productive, annual country meeting that took place at the beginning of April and included representatives from all of our partner organizations.
Blessings!
Jim Zylstra
Team Leader
World Renew Tanzania
World Renew's ministry in Tanzania is made possible, in part, by the generous support of the Canadian government's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
