First Trip Back!

I am going back to Tanzania on the 29th of this month! We (Meghan, Jennifer, and I) managed to find time to go back at the same time and we took it! I can't wait.

On this trip, we will be meeting with the sisters at Upendo to set up the flow of money and to establish ourselves in their eyes as a sustainable source of income. Many mzungus tell them they will help but most do not follow through. We are doing our best to make sure that we will not leave them behind. From there, we will be talking with people from the local primary and secondary schools. We will also be talking to a couple other orphanages and street kid homes to get as much information as we can for our future ventures.

You have probably noticed that I use the word 'sustainable' quite frequently. To make our organization sustainable will be a huge task. The transition from an influx of donations to a sustained income over a period of time is difficult, and I can't do it without your help.

To make ourselves as sustainable as possible, we will tell each institution that we work with exactly what we will fund and what we won't. At this point, we are funding tuition, uniforms, and a few necessary school supplies like workbooks and writing utensils. Upendo has about 20 students that need to be funded for the 2009 school year (Jan-Dec).

They will need:
Pencils
Erasers (these cost a fraction of a cent)
Workbooks (about 10 cents)
Uniforms (10 dollars)
Shoes
Tuition (from 40 to 100 USD for one year. At primary school, this includes one meal a day).

I am accepting donations which will be pooled with those gathered by Jennifer and Meghan that will be used on our trip to Moshi. Every penny of the money will be used to support these kids and their education. We are funding our efforts and our trip out of our own pocket.

At this point in time, because we are a new organization, we are unable to offer a tax write-off. To achieve this status, we need to be in existence for 15 months -- something to look forward to! We are currently looking for donations from 1 to 50 dollars.

Thank you for reading and for having patience with us as we grow and learn in our effort to bring education to the at-risk children of Moshi, Tanzania.

THANK YOU!