Scolastica School
The Scolastica School located near the town of Moshi, about 60 miles east of Arusha, is home to the majority of Afrikids students. Scolastica, which includes both primary and secondary levels, is one of the top English-curriculum schools in northeastern Tanzania.
With a couple of exceptions, all of the Afrikids students live in the school dormitories. As many of our students don’t have stable homes to return to during school holidays, Scolastica helps Afrikids stage a three-week camp over winter break just for our students, where they receive extra tutoring and learned valuable life skills such as cooking, laundry and cleaning. We are extremely grateful to school director Elizabeth Shayo for all the wonderful support.
Imbaseny Peace School
We are grateful to our sponsor Betsy Hoke for introducing us to the Imbaseny Peace English Medium School run by the colorful and effusive Pastor Kleopa, pictured at left with Betsy and six Afrikids students, who are currently enrolled at Imbaseny.
The beautiful campus of the Imbaseny Peace School includes preschool and primary school grades. With Betsy’s assistance, the school is developing a Montessori program for its younger students. A former Montessori teacher and owner of a Montessori school in Colorado, Betsy is training the Imbaseny teachers in the Montessori method. We had the great pleasure of experiencing some hands-on learning with the children when we visited in September 2021.
Afrikids looks forward to continuing its support for the Imbaseny Peace School and sponsoring more students in the future.
The Voice Secondary School
Afrikids has three students enrolled at The Voice Secondary School — Junior, Jaelly and Hamza. The Voice is a boarding school located in USA River. The school founder and director Daniel Mpanduzi, pictured here with Kitoi, Jaelly, Junior and Laurie, is an educator with an inspiring vision.
When asked about the story behind the school’s name. Daniel explained that The Voice makes a point of recruiting students that are considered outcasts in some communities, especially albino children, and students with aids and other disabilities. “These are children who have no voice. Here, we help them find their voice.”
We are confident that our kids will find their voices under Daniel's guidance. Afrikids is happy to support his efforts and the mission of The Voice.
POSA Preschool
When Samantha and Bobby volunteered at POSA in Usa River in 2010, they taught under a plastic tarp while the kids sat on rough blankets on the bare ground. We decided to help make some changes.
We provided money to build latrines and furnish classrooms. We purchased blackboards, desks and chairs. Samantha’s cousin Lauren Keller raised funds by selling bracelets at her high school in Miami to buy tile flooring. It was a family affair. And everyone pitched in.
Our relationship with POSA continues. We pay the monthly rent for the two classrooms. And we pay for a woman in the village to deliver fruits and vegetables for the kids each day. During the COVID shutdown in 2020, Kitoi arranged a food distribution for the POSA families. (See more POSA photos below.)
