Two models for enacting change: focus on the few or offer help to all - by Sarah Schra

 Our two site visits today were both non-government organizations[1] (NGOs) that focus on disadvantaged children and how to ensure their success in adulthood.

    The first visit of the day was to Amani Children’s Center in Moshi.

    It was started by three local Tanzanians and a Peace Corps volunteer in a small neighborhood home that was previously a pig-farm. The primary purpose of Amani was—and is—to provide a safe place for street children to sleep, bathe, eat, and imagine a future where they are not living on the street. In the last twenty years Amani has expanded their services, and now there is a full-time residential facility in Moshi, a drop-in center in downtown Arusha, and a part-time residential facility for survivors of physical and sexual assault. The Arusha facility for assault survivors provides counseling and education services until completion of the trial of the perpetrator since family and community members often exert pressure on the children to change their testimony or drop the case. Once the trial is completed, if it is safe for the survivor to be reunified with family they return home, and if not, they are either placed at the residential center in Moshi until they complete their schooling, or given vocational training and support to start a business venture.  The Tanzanian government recognizes Amani as a partner in facilitating services to juveniles, and often will contact Amani social workers to assist juveniles who are detained in jail due to conflict with law enforcement. Child Welfare also will refer children to Amani and Amani then places them in appropriate care or assists with reunification with their families if it is safe to do so. Amani has a policy of accepting any and all street children who desire their services. They have social workers who do bi-weekly outreach on the streets of Arusha, developing relationships with the street children, and encouraging them to come to Amani to complete their education, learn a vocational skill, and receive support for their future success.

    We spoke at length with Janet Agaba, the Communications and Fundraising Manager at Amani, and she shared that Amani has the most success with children who are relatively new to life on the street. Children who have lived on the street for a long period of time are much less likely to leave that life behind and adapt to the structured life at Amani (school, life skills, routines, etc.).  The majority of the children at Amani ignored us while we toured their facility and walked the grounds. A few were willing to talk to us, but most of them paid us no mind. The Amani staff were happy to let us photograph the facilities, but we were not allowed to take any photographs of the children.

    Our second site visit was to NEEMA International, where we were given a tour by Magreth Upendo, the Director of Partnerships and Communication.

    NEEMA was founded by a young American woman who, after visiting Tanzania with her parents in her late teens, wanted to provide education services to Tanzanian children. NEEMA’s model is quite different from Amani in that they only serve a small number of children, and often have to turn children away. NEEMA has three main programs on-site, but each program has its own dedicated structures separated by large stone walls due to government regulations and licensing restrictions. NEEMA operates a school, a permanent residence, and a second-chance program for older children who either dropped out of school or were unable to continue attending school because of family poverty or other disadvantaged circumstances. Child Welfare also partners with NEEMA to place children who are in unsafe home environments, but NEEMA is only able to accept a small number of children into their residential school program—limited by the amount of funding from donors and capacity determined by government regulations surrounding boarding schools. NEEMA’s teacher to child ratio is 1:13, where the ration in public schools is often more than 1:70.  In contrast to the children at Amani, the children at NEEMA appeared to be coached for our arrival, they stopped playing to gather and sing us a welcome song (a bit reluctantly) and then when directed went back to their soccer game and playground equipment. The children also were corralled later to sing a thank-you/farewell song. Magreth offered several times for us to take pictures with the children, whereas the Amani staff allowed us to only photograph empty spaces with no children. NEEMA’s classrooms were all very well appointed and had state-of-the-art doors. It is the nicest school facility we have yet seen. The children at NEEMA seemed to associate our presence with gifts/money/support, whereas the children at Amani seemed curious but largely indifferent to our presence.

    The children at both programs were healthy, seemed well-adjusted, and very happy. The NEEMA children were all wearing matching athletic uniforms and reminded me of prep school students. The Amani children were in normal clothing, doing laundry, and playing the way carefree happy children play in the US. The two models raise the question: Is it better to pour immense resources into a select few children or to distribute resources to all children who need it? Regardless of which model you believe is best, the children who are served by each of these organizations are lucky to have access to education and life-skills training that they would not otherwise have. In this way, each organization is filling a need.

    We finished the day by going to the Moshi market and Tina got an amazing avocado. The people are so warm here, and the produce is amazing. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to learn about this country and meet these beautiful people.

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[1] NGO: A non-governmental organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences.