Our Home
After seeing the desperate situation of some of the children in the communities we worked in, KidzCare decided to do something about it. The idea was to setup family style homes, where children who are orphaned, neglected and abused would have a safe environment to grow up in and be provided proper care, nutrition and medical assistance but still be involved in the local community and schools.
The first homes were setup in rented houses in urban Dar es Salaam, where the idea proved successful with tremendous positive impact on the children’s lives and health.
After realizing the need for sustainability and a permanent location for the children, KidzCare acquired some land located outside of Dar es Salaam (Kerege Village, Bagamoyo) and started to fundraise to build a larger home and a farm for the children. In January 2009 the children moved to this new home which provided a healthier and cleaner environment for them to grow up in.
Since 2009, the Home and property has continued to expand and has provide housing for more children and has provided support to the local community with our education and outreach programs.
Early Childhood Education
In line with our vision that every child has the right to quality education, KidzCare initiated their Early Childhood Education programs with the aim of providing the children with the opportunity to develop their skills, teach them the joy of learning so that they are ready for primary education and have a head start for the future.
Since its early beginnings of teaching under the trees in the villages, Kidzcare has grown to having 4 Centers with 12 classrooms in two districts (Bagamoyo & Kyela) that provide Early Childhood Education programs to over 300 Children.
These Early Childhood Education programs have been successful with the children who have then progress onwards to primary school with the tools to learn.
Primary School Education
After observing how well the children did in Early Childhood Education programs when given the opportunity to learn, KidzCare started a pilot program in Kyela to provide specialised Primary School education for the children coming through the Early Childhood Education programs.
The pilot was a success with great feedback from the children, parents and community. This motivated KidzCare to start up the Primary School Education program and provide quality primary school education in the rural areas that Kidzcare works in.
The Primary School Education program has grown from teaching classes under a tree to where we have now have 2 Primary Schools (Kyela & Bagamoyo) with 14 Classrooms and over 350 Children attending and we held our first Primary School graduation (Standard VII) this year (September, 2019) at the Kyela School.
Nutrition
When our Early Childhood Education programs started we noticed that the children were struggling to focus and were often lethargic and sleepy during the classes. Upon reviewing and discussions in the community, we discovered that many of the children were living only on one meal a day and were coming to the centers hungry. This situation got even more difficult for the children and families during the time leading up to the harvest when foods stocks were running low.
So our nutrition program was created, where every child gets a nutritious porridge meal for breakfast when they arrived at the centers and schools. Upon implemention we saw an immediate improvement in the childrens performance, health and overall wellbeing. This program has grown now to where over 650 children are having breakfast every school day at our centers and schools, and has expanded to include a lunch meal for all the primary school children at our schools.
Medical
Children born with treatable disabilities, such has club feet, are often left untreated in rural areas. These children struggle with day to day life, being in pain while hobbling on malformed and sometimes reversed feet. This makes it impossible for them to go to school and they face a life of being discriminated and shunned by the local communities they live in.
By working with local organisations and hospitals, KidzCare have been able to organise the necessary operations and rehabilitation programs for these children and over the years this program has transform the lives of hundreds of children and given them the chance to walk and live a normal life.
With further collaboration with the Rotary Club of Dar es Salaam and One World One Smile, KidzCare have organised Medical and Dental Camps in our local communities, where hundreds of patients were treated for a variety of illnesses and diseases. These camps combined with the follow-up treatment when needed have had great effect on the general health and wellbeing of the people in the community as many could not afford the medical treatments.
In our schools, Kidzcare have a implemented a Worm and Weigh program whereby at the beginning of each term, we check the weight of each child and give out deworming medicine to the children. This helps us to track and keep an eye on the general health and development of the children.