Garden Party and Benefit

On Tuesday night, about a hundred friends of FoTZC came together to celebrate community development projects and to kick off COCOBA (community conservation banking) in the Loliondo area. We had a silent auction including paintings and paper art by three Tanzania artists we know, as well as a stunning selection of African masks from the Private Collection of the late Dr. Farish Jenkins. We also had Thomson Safarisstaff members selling jewelry and other beaded handicrafts made by Tanzanian women.

The main attraction was our panel of speakers, which included Dr. Ken Dial, a Conservation Biologist at the University of Montana, Daniel Yamat, a Maasai elder from Tanzania, and video interviews with Atwitye Makwetta, the Dean of Business at Mount Meru University. WBUR’s Tom Ashbrook led a lively discussion on empowering women in Tanzania, and how conservation and tourism both play a role in this type of development.

We’ve included one of the video clips of Atwitye speaking about women in Tanzania so you can get a feel for the issues that the panel addressed.

Orkiu Classroom Dedication

On a brilliantly clear day in early May, we went to the dedication ceremony for the two new classrooms at Orkiu Primary School. We were welcomed by women singing and dancing in their finest shukas and jewelry along with the elders and village leaders. After greeting everyone, the guests of honor, including two of our representatives and two Thomson Safaris guides were seated on the veranda of the new classrooms for the ceremony. The District Commissioner of Ngorongoro District, Hashim Mgandilwa, was the guest of honor. He thanked FoTZC for our dedication to completing projects in Loliondo, and noted that Orkiu now has enough classrooms for the entire student body. Prior to the construction of these classrooms, half of the students had to wait outside while the other half was in class. At an elevation of almost 8,000 feet, Orkiu gets cold! The students are happy to have more time in the classroom. Eliza, the FoTZC Director of Operations spoke about how much we value our partnership with Orkiu, as well as our incredible partnership with Jane Moore. Jane raised the majority of the money to fund these classrooms through her effort called Pencils and Dreams. We are grateful to have Jane helping us with our projects, but the students are especially grateful!

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There's Still Time!

There is still time to give a gift this holiday season. We are only able to build dispensaries, classrooms, and teachers’ housing, and work on women’s empowerment thanks to the generosity of you, our donors. In the last two few days of this year, please consider making a donation to FoTZC.

If you would like to donate to FoTZC in honor of a loved one as a holiday gift, please click here and select “Honor Your Loved One”! 

Reflections on the Directors' Trip

At our last Board of Directors meeting we were reflecting on the Directors’ trip in March, and we wanted to share some of our reflections with you.

Two moments stand out for me in particular: Meeting with the representatives of the women’s collectives and Cecelia (the beading trainer), and seeing the improvement in the beadwork reaffirmed for me the importance of the training FoTZC has funded. On my first trip five years ago, the women were making simple three-strand bracelets and necklaces. Since receiving training there has been significant improvement in the quality and variety of the beadwork. Additionally, the collective training has enabled women from different villages to come together and talk about priorities to benefit the region, such as the dispensary, not just their individual communities. Meeting with students and teachers at Soit Sambu Secondary School and touring the new girls’ dormitory was equally moving. The new dormitory positively sparkled with its bright colors. I was particularly struck by the headmaster’s statement that the younger girls are housed in the new dorm to encourage them to stay in school. These students are eager to learn, and with our help they have facilities that make it easier to continue their studies. – Lucy Karl

What most affected me on this Directors’ trip was the extent of interaction we had with community representatives – honest and open feedback on what impact our projects were having, and the unanimity of the most important efforts we could assist with going forward. It’s instructive to sit down outside with dozens of Maasai women, or in a classroom with fifty village representatives, and listen to their opinions, stories, and insight. – Bob Treitman

Orkiu Classroom Construction

Lately we feel like we are always breaking ground on a new project, and this month is no exception! We’ve broken ground on two classrooms at Orkiu Primary School. Orkiu is on a cold, windy plateau, and currently they only have half the necessary classroom space for their student body. While half of the students are in class, the other half are outside. This is an extremely challenging environment for the students to learn in. These two classrooms will allow them to conduct classes for all of the students inside at the same time. It may seem like a simple thing, but it will mean the world to these kids!

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