There is still time to give a gift this holiday season. We are only able to build dispensaries, classrooms, and teachers’ housing, and work on women’s empowerment thanks to the generosity of you, our donors. In the last two few days of this year, please consider making a donation to FoTZC.
If you would like to donate to FoTZC in honor of a loved one as a holiday gift, please click here and select “Honor Your Loved One”!
At our last Board of Directors meeting we were reflecting on the Directors’ trip in March, and we wanted to share some of our reflections with you.
Two moments stand out for me in particular: Meeting with the representatives of the women’s collectives and Cecelia (the beading trainer), and seeing the improvement in the beadwork reaffirmed for me the importance of the training FoTZC has funded. On my first trip five years ago, the women were making simple three-strand bracelets and necklaces. Since receiving training there has been significant improvement in the quality and variety of the beadwork. Additionally, the collective training has enabled women from different villages to come together and talk about priorities to benefit the region, such as the dispensary, not just their individual communities. Meeting with students and teachers at Soit Sambu Secondary School and touring the new girls’ dormitory was equally moving. The new dormitory positively sparkled with its bright colors. I was particularly struck by the headmaster’s statement that the younger girls are housed in the new dorm to encourage them to stay in school. These students are eager to learn, and with our help they have facilities that make it easier to continue their studies. – Lucy Karl
What most affected me on this Directors’ trip was the extent of interaction we had with community representatives – honest and open feedback on what impact our projects were having, and the unanimity of the most important efforts we could assist with going forward. It’s instructive to sit down outside with dozens of Maasai women, or in a classroom with fifty village representatives, and listen to their opinions, stories, and insight. – Bob Treitman
Lately we feel like we are always breaking ground on a new project, and this month is no exception! We’ve broken ground on two classrooms at Orkiu Primary School. Orkiu is on a cold, windy plateau, and currently they only have half the necessary classroom space for their student body. While half of the students are in class, the other half are outside. This is an extremely challenging environment for the students to learn in. These two classrooms will allow them to conduct classes for all of the students inside at the same time. It may seem like a simple thing, but it will mean the world to these kids!
The dispensary building is complete! While there may still be a few minor changes, the building itself is finished and it looks beautiful! The contractor is putting the finishing touches on the staff housing now, and the toilets are well on their way to completion. We hope that the dispensary will be open for patients to visit in the first half of 2015!
Copies of The Focus have arrived! We really enjoyed reflecting on our work over the past year while we wrote this, and we always like thinking about where we are headed in the future. We particularly enjoyed speaking with Hans and Jane Duinmayer of Acme Construction about why they choose to work with FoTZC. They told us:
The main reason we work with FoTZC is that FoTZC is a nonprofit; we feel that Acme Construction is supporting community development through FoTZC by giving students a better studying environment and providing communities with improved health facilities through modern infrastructure like classrooms, teachers’ houses, kitchens, a dispensary, doctors’ housing etc. We provide these high quality buildings at reasonable prices, which we sometimes even subsidize. Acme Construction has put up at least 13 buildings for FoTZC to date. It gives us pride to be given this chance to be part of this process in providing service to the public in this part of Tanzania. It is our hope that FoTZC and the communities are happy with our product.
Thank you to all of our contributors who have made FoTZC projects possible. To view an electronic version of The Focus, click here.
FOTZC is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organization registered in Watertown, MA. FOTZC also accepts donation of securities. Please contact info@fotzc.org for guidance on making this type of donation.
