Friends of Amani Tanzania (UK Registered Charity 1114281) Welcomes You
Amani Mvomero Secondary School
Background
The Amani Centre has an established primary school in Mvomero, Tanzania for children who are hard of hearing. The school is extremely important for the community as it provides children with additional needs the opportunity of a full education.
In January 2022, the final year students (Standard 7) progressed to secondary education. FOAT is supporting the Amani Centre to create a secondary school extension to cater for these young people.
The Classrooms
Thanks to FOAT fundraising efforts and some generous donors, the first classroom for the secondary school was built in 2021 and the second classroom built in 2022.
Dormitories - Update January 2024
Girls' Dormitory - The fundraising target was reached in September 2022 and building commenced shortly after.
Boys' Dormitory - The fundraising target was reached in April 2023 and building of the Boys' dormitory started in June 2023.
Both dormitories are now completed and filled with students accessing a rich education at Mvomero.
A power line has been installed so that both dormitories have electricity.
A huge thank you to everyone who supported this project over the years.
Magubike Amani Centre
Background
The demands for Amani's services are ever increasing. The more Amani does to raise awareness of disability and offer support in the Morogoro Region, the more its services are needed.
Families in the village of Magubike, some 60 miles from Amani Centre Morogoro, have been asking Amani to open a new Centre in their locality. They have over 170 children with varying disabilities and find it difficult to get to Morogoro for treatment.
Progress 2018 - 2021
The Magubike community lobbied local Government officials to provide land and basic utilities (electricity and mains water). Local Government gave Amani the land in 2018 and put in the infrastructure for electricity and water in 2019. In 2021 the local community constructed the first of the buildings with funds they raised themselves.
March 2022 update
With thanks to a very generous donation of £5,500 from the Rotary Club of Reading and donations from other Amani supporters, Phase 1 of the building work has now commenced. On completion of Phase 1, Magubike Amani Centre will comprise a Hall/Classroom, a Hostel and Toilets. Local villagers continue to support the project with materials and labour, so it really is a collective community effort to have Magubike Amani Centre in place. Physiotherapy services are already taking place.
2024 update
Phase 1 was completed in 2023 with the following buildings complete: a reception area, a hall/physiotherapy room, staff house and toilets.
Tanks for water collection are now connected; this was the final activity of Phase 1.
In early 2024, the following rooms were added: storeroom, dining room, kitchen, and dormitory for visiting mothers.
Helena Memorial Project
Helena volunteered at the Amani Centre in 2005. Her passing in August 2017 left her family and friends bereft, but we are fortified in the knowledge that her legacy lives on at Amani and in the lives of families of the disabled in Morogoro.
Thanks to donations given in Helena’s memory, eight groups of families of children with disabilities living near the Amani Centre were trained in how to set up and run their own small businesses. These are the Helena Economic Social Empowerment Projects. Working cooperatively to run their businesses has helped the families provide mutual support, an income and develop skills in self-reliance.
The Helena family groups have asked Amani to provide training in establishing and running Microbanks. This will help these marginalised families to become self-sufficient by providing them with the knowledge and resources to manage their finances more effectively, take advantage of economic opportunities and raise their status in the local economy.
In 2023 FOAT launched an appeal to raise £650 for Amani to train the existing eight Helena Memorial groups in how to run microbanks. All eight groups were trained and are now running successful microbanks alongside their small projects.
During their visit to Amani in August 2024, FOAT Trustees (Helena’s parents) Bridget and Leslie, in discussion with Amani, identified the need to establish a ninth Helena Group in one of the wards near Amani. Thanks to a donation from the John Pitman Charitable Trust, in January 2025 Amani was able to organise a seminar for eight families of children with disabilities to start a group and to train the participants in income generation, money management, running a microbank and running small projects within the group. Now, with continued support and guidance from Amani, the group is well positioned to achieve its goals and improve the economic and social well-being of its members.
Some examples of the business cooperatives
A Market Garden
Making Cakes and Soap to Sell
Making Cakes and Soap to Sell
Making Cakes and Soap to Sell
Making Cakes and Soap to Sell
Making Cakes and Soap to Sell
Making Handbags
Women administering their Microbank in Chalinze
Women administering their Microbank in Chalinze
Women administering their Microbank in Chalinze
Women administering their Microbank in Chalinze
Women administering their Microbank in Chalinze
The Fonthill Co-Curricular Project
About The Fonthill Co-Curricular Project
Phase 1
The Co-Curricular Project at Mvomero, funded by a grant from the Fonthill Trust, is an exciting and innovative project launched in February 2019. It aims to use agriculture as a learning opportunity by using the maize field and vegetable garden as an outdoor classroom, where the children at the Amani Special School for the Hearing impaired can learn about growing maize and vegetables, but can also practise elements of the Government Curriculum.
During a visit in February, Associate Trustee, Barbara Bristow facilitated the launch of the project including buying all the necessary technology, computers and a laminator, as well as the tools for the agriculture.
Phase 1 saw the successful planting and harvesting of the maize farm and vegetable garden. The children were able to use the land as part of their language, signing, maths and art lessons.
The Success of the Maize Farm
The results of the maize drawings
The Success of the Maize Farm
Drawing maize by memory
The results of the maize drawings
The Success of the Maize Farm
The results of the maize drawings
The results of the maize drawings
Learning how far apart to sow seeds
Learning how far apart to sow seeds
Learning how far apart to sow seeds
The new tools thanks to Fonthill
The new tools thanks to Fonthill
Having a lesson about vegetables
The new tools thanks to Fonthill
Phase 2
The Fonthill Foundation provided a further grant to support the project throughout 2020. The money was used the consolidate the project, replant the maize and vegetables, and to begin a chicken project. The children will be taught about chickens and will use the eggs to create a mini business, learning entrepreneurship skills.
Additionally, The Amani Centre used the remaining funds from Fonthill to purchase a plot of land nearby the school so that they do not have to pay rental costs.
In February 2021, FOAT learnt that the Fonthill Foundation wishes to, once again, support Amani in 2021 so that the children can continue to use the surrounding land as part of their education. It is, and continues to be an exciting project which benefits the students and the staff.
Lessons can now be held using the new Outdoor Blackboard
Students plant the vegetables
The new roosting ledges and chickens
Outdoor Lessons
Village elders join in the end of year school celebrations
The successful maize crop
Phase 3 - This is the third year of funding from Fonthill. Everyone at FOAT and Amani are grateful of their continued support of the fantastic work at the Mvomero School for children who are hard of hearing.
As of August 2021, Amani have planted the maize and vegetables, and thankfully all crops are growing well. It is even hoped there will be a small surplus of vegetables which will be sold with the money being reinvested back into the school.
Mpapa Dispensary Project
Amani has long supported the villagers of Mpapa and Msufini through outreach and social empowerment projects from its Mvomero Centre.
However, the on-going challenge the villagers were facing was that of access to medical facilities. These communities are some 10 to 15 km from Mvomero, accessible by motor vehicle only during the dry season. For up to three months of the year they have no access to medicines or medical professionals.
In 2014, working with FOAT, children from Dame Alice Owen School in London raised funds to build a four room dispensary for the villagers. After a local appeal in July 2019, Bridget secured an anonymous donation for the remaining funds to complete the building of the 10 roomed structure to satisfy new government regulations.
March 2022 update: A change of government following the President’s death in March 2021 led to further delays. Amani instigated a meeting between Government Officials, local village leaders and Amani leadership in December 2021. This secured the commitment of the local government medical department to complete water capture arrangements and construct toilets, supply furnishings and medications, and appoint a nurse/dispenser to enable the facility to open this month. However, the exceptional rains this year during the rainy season has led to further delays to the completion of the building work. Amani reports that matters are now on track for opening the dispensary by May this year.
The progress of the dispensary building
The Goat Project at Mpapa
The Goat Project at Mpapa
Mpapa Community
The Goat Project at Mpapa
FOAT trustee Leslie reviewing progress of the dispensary
FOAT trustee Leslie reviewing progress of the dispensary
Ecumenical Projects
Background
The collaborative project between the Anglican Diocese of Morogoro and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Morogoro was initiated by the Trustees of Friends of Amani Tanzania (FOAT) and the Anglican and Catholic Bishops in 2013 with funding from the Oxford Diocesan Outreach Fund.
Since then the two churches have been working hard to serve the community through projects supporting the Berega Hospital and Orphanage and the Amani Centre in Morogoro. Over the past few years members of both churches have worked together to undertake outreach work to provide education to raise awareness in the community regarding the welfare of children with disabilities.
Ecumenical social entrepreneurship projects mark an extension of this joint mission to help these families become more economically self-reliant and also less socially isolated.
If you would like to read about the Outreach and Economic Empowerment projects conducted by the Ecumenical Team, please click the link below:
Mikese Borehole
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. In late 2020, we 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.
This project is now underway and water has been successfully reached. This will make a huge difference to everyone at the Mikese Amani Centre.
The Tailoring Project
Sponsored by a grant from the Park Family Charitable Trust and supported by FOAT, this project began in January 2019 with a total of 17 students with disabilities from the Amani Community in and around Chamwino. The Tailoring Project gave these students a skill they can use to earn an income for their families.
The initial funding was for seven months. After this time, three of the students learned basic tailoring skills and, with limited support from their teacher, could make clothes and uniforms to sell in the local market. In August 2019, Trustees Bridget and Leslie Green were on hand to congratulate them on their success on reaching a key milestone for the project.
A further three students were close to graduation. Amani and FOAT recognised that the students needed longer to learn skills needed to be able to tailor independently and establish their own small businesses.
Following a small injection of funds by FOAT and a generous donation from a private individual, the project was able to continue to July 2020 when 10 of the original cohort of students will have the skills necessary to start their own tailoring businesses or, for those remaining at Amani, to make some basic items for Amani to sell.
The Tailoring Project in action outside the Amani Centre
Practising new tailoring skills
Practising new tailoring skills
One of the tailoring sessions
Practising new tailoring skills
Graduation for three of the students
Graduation for three of the students