The physiotherapy service at Chamwino is a core offering at Amani – enabling both children living at Amani, and children in the wider community to access crucial physiotherapy services.
Thanks to a generous donation from a FOAT supporter, Amani has tiled the floor and the room is looking fantastic.
Advised by a local expert, Amani has started a new project - Fish Ponds! The first pond was stocked with Mud Fish in mid-June. The first ‘harvest’ is expected in December. The second pond is built and will be stocked with a variety of different fish, but needs a regular water supply. Both ponds are expected to provide food for local consumption and surplus to sell.
The nursery at Chamwino has had a revamp and now more than 40 children attend daily. This includes siblings of children with disabilities, and older children with physical disabilities (who will later on be able to attend the Amani Mvomero Special School).
Amani has improved the rooms at Chamwino by raising the rooves to make the bedrooms more airy and comfortable. Additional space has also been created along with a new bedroom to allow for more beds and cots. Finally, ramps have been installed to ensure everyone can move around the site freely.
Barbara helped to purchase equipment to start a new market garden project at Amani, close to the Mvomero site. Managed and run by Emma, Amani will be cultivating vegetables using the available permanent water source and will sell in Dodoma.
On her recent visit to Tanzania, Barbara also worked with Amani to implement the Biogas Project at the Mvomero site. This important scheme will help the transition away from unsustainable and unhealthy methods of cooking using wood and charcoal to sustainable solutions that harness the power of organic waste (mostly pig waste).
A new kitchen, supported by Barbara (FOAT associate), is being built at Mvomero. It is substantially bigger than the previous one and it is now able to accommodate different cooking methods in the new fuel mix - methane, firewood, charcoal and bottled gas!
Recent times have seen fundraising efforts and work on new dormitories at the Amani Mvomero Special School for children who are hard of hearing. The dormitories are now fully constructed allowing children to access a rich education in wonderful surroundings. A recent private donation was provided to install a new power line into the dormitories.
FOAT provided funds to enable important safeguarding training to take place.
This first phase took place in January for all workers who deal with children or vulnerable people at Amani or in the communities. The second phase of training will take place in March 2024.
FOAT and Amani are grateful for the continued support from The Park Family Trust. A recent grant enabled a further five children to benefit from surgery in 2023 with the hope that it'll improve their quality of life.
The children continue to receive support and therapy from Amani either at the centre or in their villages.
Generous donations from Child Sponsors and other Amani supporters meant that the children, staff, volunteers and community were all able to enjoy a Christmas celebration.
The children all received a gift and there was food, dancing and celebrations for all.
Construction of the four buildings for Phase 1 is now complete.
A new Amani Centre is now in situ at a fourth site in Magubike. There is a reception area, a hall/physiotherapy room, staff house and toilets. The Centre can now provide vital support, guidance and therapy for those in need. Tanks for water collection are also now connected.
Bridget and Leslie returned once again in August 2023 to visit The Amani Centre and Shinyanga.
Find out more about their visits on the 'Trustee Visits' page and 'Shinyanga' page.
Thanks to funds raised by FOAT Associate - Barbara Bristow - a new testing laboratory has been built at the Chamwino Amani Centre.
The Maabara will enable speedy testing of the children, which will provide for much better outcomes. Moreover, it will save cash, as well as generate revenue from the local community
With thanks to all donors, including including individuals, supporters of Bridget & Leslie’s ‘Eat for the Boys’ campaign, and a grant from the Park Family Charitable Trust, the fundraising target for the Boy's dormitory was reached in April 2023 and construction has begun.
Students from MIS have been supporting Amani throughout 2023. Along with fundraisers at the time of the World Cup and Valentine's Day, they have also purchased items for Amani and visited the children. We look forward to the link with MIS continuing.
The dormitory fundraising target was reached in September 2022 with building commencing shortly after. The building is now just about completed, with just the Plasterboard to go!
This trip was Bridget and Leslie's first trip back to Amani in 3 years.
Their schedule was jam packed and it was great to hear about all the life changing work that Amani continues to do for children with disabilities, their families and communities.
Fundraising efforts and generous donations have meant that the second classroom for Mvomero Special School's secondary students is almost complete.
We are now in need of funds to furnish the classroom.
The training was a resounding success. 32 delegates from various NGOs, churches and charities took part and all are excited to take back their learning and make changes in their work practices to help protect children.
Funds are required to build separate dormitories for both the girls and the boys so that the Mvomero Amani Special School can extend into Secondary education.
The current priority is the girls dormitory.
With the funds raised from Bridget and Leslie's 'Food for Start-ups' fundraising initiative, the groups have been able to get started with their microbank business initiatives.
Rach and John will be taking on Reading 1/2 marathon in April to raise vital funds to support the cost of caring for the children who live at Amani. There are 15 children living at Amani without sponsors, so these funds will go some way to help.
The community at Magubike asked Amani to open a centre to support the 170+ children with disabilities who live in and around the village.
Thanks to generous donors, including the Reading Rotary club, building work has started.
Following the success of last year’s similar fundraising campaign, FOAT trustees Bridget and Leslie are once again cooking and selling meals, this year to raise funds towards the ecumenical social empowerment projects FOAT supports.
As part of FOAT's fundraising and support for Ecumenical Economic Social Empowerment projects, seven groups of families of children with disabilities have been trained at Amani. These families have decided to set up Microbanks and now have the skills to do so and FOAT are fundraising to cover the remaining start-up costs.
The FOAT child sponsors, once again, provided gifts which were sent over to the centre so that the children could celebrate and each have a gift to open. In addition, generous donors provided funds to enable a Christmas party to take place.
This is such a special occasion for everyone at Amani and the children are always extremely excited to receive their gift from their sponsor.
We are still in need of a number of sponsors as we currently have 15 children without a sponsor. Please do get in touch if you or anyone you know may be interested in sponsoring a child
Longstanding supporter of Amani, Anasia, sent a birthday cake, drinks and treats for everyone at Amani to enjoy in celebration of her birthday.
Thank you Anasia for your continued support of Amani.
As part of the Park Family Trust grant, five children travelled to Dar es Salaam and had surgery which is hoped will drastically improve their quality of life. In addition, four other children were provided with advice and assistive equipment.
Find out more about this project on the Projects page.
The Helena Green Memorial Foundation supports young disabled and their families to develop entrepreneurial skills so that these families can better support themselves.
Amani recently provided training to a small group in a village in Sanga Sanga, who will run a small microbank in their community.
To find out more about the Ecumenical Empowerment projects, click the below link.
FOAT was happy to support Amani with a Mushroom farm initiative earlier in 2021 and was extremely pleased to see how successful it has been. They are harvesting approx. 1kg of mushrooms per day, which are being sold in local markets.
A team of 19 travelled to Twatwatwa village for outreach services, raising awareness through song and dance and to identify children with disabilities and their families.
In total, 15 children were identified and assessed, and their families provided with advice and support. Nine children were advised to come to Amani for physiotherapy and education.
One person brought her grandchild and asked for Amani's help as she was struggling to care for him. He now lives at Amani, receiving therapy, education and support.
While continuing to seek funds for the first phase of buildings for a Secondary School for pupils with special needs at Amani’s Mvomero site, FOAT was able to send £2,000 to Amani in June so that work could begin on construction of a classroom.
The first classroom for the Mvomero Special Needs Secondary School has been constructed. It now just needs furnishing ready for start of school year in January 2022.
On Amani's wish list for quite some time has been an audiometer. FOAT have now been able to provide the funds for this so that the teachers at the school can accurately assess and monitor the childrens' hearing.
Thanks to a donation from the Mike Eggleton bequest to Reading Rotary Club, Amani is able to fulfil its long held desire for a regular water supply at its farm at Mikese.
Find out more on our Projects Page.
FOAT Trustees, Bridget and Leslie, have been busy cooking up delicious meals and delivering them to friends to raise money for a new Secondary School, specialising in support for children who are hard of hearing.
Find out more on our Fundraising Page.
The Fonthill Foundation's generosity and support over the past 2 years has been invaluable to the Mvomero School for children who are Hard of Hearing. Thanks to Fonthill, they now are able to utilise the land that surrounds them as part of their education. All at FOAT and Amani are delighted that Fonthill have decided to support the project for a further year.
More information on the Projects Page.
A big thank you to the Rotary Club of Reading for their support for Amani over the last couple of years.
Individual members of the Rotary Club of Reading informally supported the repair of farm buildings and water tanks at Mvomero following the freak storm in December 2019 and again when funds were urgently needed to save the Mvomero primary school from possible closure in 2021.
Whilst the club members have been unable to meet over lunch during the Covid 19 pandemic, they have been allocating their lunch money to support a number of overseas projects. The Amani Centre is one of four charities that receive a monthly donation towards their spiralling food costs.
The club has also given £6,300 to install a borehole at Amani’s Mikese farm. These funds are part of the Mike Eggleton Bequest to the Reading Rotaty Club.
With huge thanks to Fonthill Foundation and some very generous individuals, £1600 required for building works, and £1400 for dormitory equipment was raised so the school could prepare for their final intake of students.
The conversion need was a government requirement, so thanks to this incredibly important building work, these students can continue their education at Mvomero School.
Once again, FOAT helped Amani to have a Christmas celebration and party. With thanks to our child sponsors and some generous donors, we sent over a parcel of presents - one for each of the children with disabilities who live at Amani.
The celebration involved dancing and food and the children loved opening their gifts.
We are always in need of new sponsors as we still have children without a sponsor. If you, or anyone you know may be interested, please find out more on our Child Sponsorship page.
Workers from Amani and from the Anglican Church conducted outreach in Lugoba village. Many villagers came to receive advice and treatment for their children. Twenty three children with cerebral palsy were identified and eight hard of hearing children have been advised to join the Mvomero School to begin their schooling. Several families were invited to stay at Amani for a short while so they could access physiotherapy services.
Members from the Amani Centre and two nurses from the Berega Anglican Hospital went to a small village called Kiloka as part of their outreach services. The outreach services are so important for local communities and help with the identification of children with disabilities.
On this particular outreach, ten children were identified to have a disability where hospital treatment was advised, eight children who are hard of hearing have been recommended to go to Mvomero School and many more children have been advised to access the physiotherapy services at Amani.
Each year, FOAT fundraises by encouraging people to purchase an Amani Gift Christmas card in lieu of (or as well as) a present for family and friends.
The cards are £10 (as above) or £20 (as on Fundraiser page) and the proceeds all go to Amani.
To find out more and for information about how to purchase these, click below.
Obtaining sufficient clean water is always a challenge for any family or organisation in rural Tanzania, and this is especially true for Amani’s farming centre in Mikese. For some time now, the prospect of a borehole has been something Amani has been very keen to explore. FOAT has been in discussion with Reading Rotary Club. We have just learned that the bid for £6,300 has been agreed and will be met from the Mike Eggleton bequest. Mike recently died after a career as a senior electrical engineer. He had a passion for sustainable engineering projects.
Thanks to the support of individuals, Friends of Amani Tanzania (FOAT) and a grant from the Bishop of Oxford’s outreach fund, Disability Awareness Training was given to a group of Christians in Shinyanga by RC priest, Fr Beatus (Director) and Special Needs teacher, Emmanuel ‘Mlegu (Deputy Director) from the Amani Centre.
Visit the Shinyanga Page to find out more.
Amani plan to convert the current staff/volunteer lodging into a new dormitory to facilitate this. The conversion will cost £1600 and will allow the girls their own accommodation and mean the school can continue to carry out the incredible work they do.
More information and details of how you can support on the Fundraising Page.
At the main Amani Centre at Chamwino, the staff and one of their local experts have designed and made a “bicycle” to transport the children from their dormitories, to the physiotherapy centre which is in a different building, across the road. The children all seem very excited to get to ride in their new mode of transport and it is proving a big help.
The Coronavirus is a challenging time for everyone all around the world. For the Amani Centre, Coronavirus is resulting in higher food prices and reduced 'gifts in kind' from local donors. FOAT have made two donations - on of £1000 in April and a further donation for £2500 in May so the centre can continue to care for the children at Amani.
To help contribute towards these costs, please consider making a donation via the FOAT Justgiving page.
FOAT launches major funding appeal to help Amani reach its dream to develop an Amani Village at Magubike to support over 170 children with disabilities and their families.
It is Amani Director, Fr Beatus’ dream to grow the village at Magubike. This would include a physio room and store, hostel, toilets and later dormitory buildings. The total area for the village would be up to five acres; the remaining seven acres would be cultivated.
More information and details of how you can support on the Fundraising Page.
Thanks to a generous private donation in November 2019, Amani now has funds to continue the tailoring project to July 2020, giving the young students with disabilities on the programme the skills to earn an income for themselves and their families.
Full details of this project on the Projects page.
FOAT is delighted to announce receipt of a second grant from the Fonthill Foundation to further develop the exciting Agricultural Curriculum Project at Mvomero Special School.
More details on the Fonthill Project on the Projects Page.
FOAT helps Amani celebrate Christmas every year. Thanks to some generous donors and to our Child sponsors, every child at Amani got a gift and a huge Christmas celebration took place with the children from all three Amani sites coming together for the day. The highlight was a football match between Chamwino Amani children and Mvomero Amani children (a 1-1 draw)
If you are interested in becoming a child sponsor, please find out more via the link below and get in touch!
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