A Year In Review
2018 was another unforgettable year for the Tanzanian Children’s Fund (TCF). We celebrated our 15th anniversary and welcomed back a few familiar faces to our new leadership team. As we reflect on the events of the past year, it is amazing to see just how far we have come in building brighter futures for our community of 10,000.
It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, our RVCV family sent off a group of eager young adults, hoping to achieve their dream of earning a post-secondary degree. Today, these students are now college graduates! Congratulations to Martin, Asau, and Richard! While these students were away at school, things certainly didn’t slow down at the Children’s Village! We welcomed 82 volunteers to RVCV this year, who mentored our children in secondary school, held the hands of our kids walking to Gyetighi Primary School, and nurtured the 21 children cared for by our daycare program each day.
Meanwhile, TCF celebrated another banner year at Gyetighi Primary School (GPS) and Oldeani Secondary School (OSS). In 2018, we provided a quality education to 480 students at GPS and 376 students at OSS. Working hard to transform both schools into institutions of academic excellence, we were pleased to celebrate a 100% pass rate on the Standard7 National Exam at GPS!
In 2018, we broke records inside our Rural Community Health Clinic. Through the outstanding expertise of our Registered Nurses, Gretchen and Katie, and Nursing Assistants, Richard, Ema and Juliana, we provided care to 7,023 people – treating an average of 21 patients each day! Our healthcare team also administered deworming treatments and vitamins for all 856 students enrolled at GPS and OSS.
This year, we celebrated 10 years of creating economic opportunities for our community since the launch of our Microfinance Program in 2008. In 2018, we welcomed 100 new clients to the program, empowering a total of 720 entrepreneurs to provide for themselves and their families. Once again, the successes of our clients showed us that poverty doesn’t have to be permanent. In recognizing the importance of ongoing education, we introduced a new beekeeping training initiative to teach 30 clients how to harvest beeswax for products such as candles and medicinal creams. We also implemented a grain and seed storage program to promote sustainability of client crop yields.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped make this year so special and successful. With your continued commitment and dedication to our children and community, we believe 2019 will be even brighter. As you may have heard, we’ve got big plans.