TAFCOM
Tanzanian Organization Facilitating Community Development Projects
99 days to Africa
We are excited about the response we have been receiving thus far to the blog. People have been responding positively to our efforts to share our experience while also looking for ways to engage you in the experience. Many people have begun asking us about the charitable organization that our group is teaming with to benefit women and children within our host country of Tanzania, East Africa.
TAFCOM is a local, well-established Kilimanjaro area registered non-government organization. TAFCOM is committed to the elimination of poverty by providing for the well being of vulnerable children, HIV/AIDS social outreach, women's health and economic viability and environmental conservation.
We have partnered with TAFCOM to raise money that will go towards two major initiatives within the village of Pasua, the most destitute village in the Kilimanjaro region. Here everyday life consists of extreme hardship with lack of employment, food, education, medical care and opportunities. It is within this community that TAFCOM resides and provides its essential educational and social outreach services.
The funds that our group is raising (there are ten of us total) will be used to complete two early childhood education classrooms and provide microloans to establish small businesses for 30 women with children. The current education center is highly inadequate, yet it is home to 45 AIDS orphans and other destitute children who would otherwise have no opportunity for education.
The women receiving the microloans are the most destitute of TAFCOM's social outreach programs. For these women, most often their husbands have died of AIDS and as a result they have been ostracized by their families and have no means of support. These women and their children live in damp and dusty makeshift shacks with dirt floors, no windows, extremely poor ventilation, and roofs and walls that leak profusely.
Thumbs up to those who donate!
The women receiving the microloans are the most destitute of TAFCOM's social outreach programs. For these women, most often their husbands have died of AIDS and as a result they have been ostracized by their families and have no means of support. These women and their children live in damp and dusty makeshift shacks with dirt floors, no windows, extremely poor ventilation, and roofs and walls that leak profusely.
As a means to provide seed money for ongoing income as opposed to a handout, microloan programs are highly successful. The microloan program provides between $100 to $300 to each woman to establish a vegetable stand, soap or charcoal businesses or even a makeshift restaurant. Education seminars and personal one-on-one follow-up is also provided to each woman concerning how to manage her business and ensure its success and longevity. Payments of principle and a modest amount of interest are made weekly and the funds are paid back within a year. A 95% repayment history allows these funds to be lent out again for the benefit of yet more women within the community.
As part of Kilimanjaro Challenge, we are committed to empowering others through global service and having a significant impact on a community so that its members can thrive and prosper. For this reason, we have voluntarily taken on the quest of fundraising $15,000. We have also undertaken the task to collect teaching and learning supplies that will be used to educate the children in the village of Pasua once the education center is complete. Needless to say, your financial contribution will play an important role in breaking the poverty cycle for hundreds of Pasua's women and children most in need. The coordinator of our trip has made multiple trips to Tanzania, and she has previously teamed with TAFCOM on projects to support many villages within the Kilimanjaro region. She has seen firsthand the impact that similar initiatives have had on the villages that surround Mount Kilimanjaro.
Example of a vegetable stand funded through a microloan
As part of Kilimanjaro Challenge, we are committed to empowering others through global service and having a significant impact on a community so that its members can thrive and prosper. For this reason, we have voluntarily taken on the quest of fundraising $15,000. We have also undertaken the task to collect teaching and learning supplies that will be used to educate the children in the village of Pasua once the education center is complete. Needless to say, your financial contribution will play an important role in breaking the poverty cycle for hundreds of Pasua's women and children most in need. The coordinator of our trip has made multiple trips to Tanzania, and she has previously teamed with TAFCOM on projects to support many villages within the Kilimanjaro region. She has seen firsthand the impact that similar initiatives have had on the villages that surround Mount Kilimanjaro.
To learn more about TAFCOM and their mission and accomplishments, please visit http://tafcomtz.com/.
To make a contribution there are several options.
1. The easiest option is to log onto www.newhorizonsfoundation.net, click on "Donate." Fill out your personal information, including credit card information (Visa, Discover or MasterCard). Under "Select Operating Project," choose TAFCOM-MN. In comments, write in for the benefit of "Greg and/or Deb." A tax deductible donation receipt will be provided.
2. A check can be written, made payable to New Horizons Foundation, Inc. (an organization that acts as a middle party and can generate tax deductible receipts). Checks can be sent to Greg or Deb, and we will send them to New Horizons Foundation where they will be entered into the account of TAFCOM-MN (our group). You will receive a tax deductible receipt. To coordinate sending a check to Greg or Deb, please e-mail them at kilimanjarochallenge2013@gmail.com.
2. A check can be written, made payable to New Horizons Foundation, Inc. (an organization that acts as a middle party and can generate tax deductible receipts). Checks can be sent to Greg or Deb, and we will send them to New Horizons Foundation where they will be entered into the account of TAFCOM-MN (our group). You will receive a tax deductible receipt. To coordinate sending a check to Greg or Deb, please e-mail them at kilimanjarochallenge2013@gmail.com.
3. Make a cash donation to Deb or Greg. We will go onto the website for you or write a check to New Horizons Foundation Inc. If possible, we will get a tax deductible receipt for you if you wish. For this option, you can e-mail Greg and Deb at kilimanjarochallenge2013@gmail.com to make arrangements with them.
Please note: Indicating that the donation is "for the benefit of Greg and/or Deb" is done for purposes of identifying which member of our ten person group secured the donation to TAFCOM-MN. This matters only for purposes of tracking whether or not we have reached our individual fundraising commitment. Deb and Greg do not get any of the money you are donating. Similarly, the cost of our trip is being fully paid for by the members within our group. Any funds that are donated are not being used to pay for any portion of our travels to Africa. A small portion of your donation (approximately 3%) does go to New Horizons Foundations as a service fee for serving as the non-profit agency routing the funds to TAFCOM (a necessity since our group does not exist on its own as a non-profit organization).
We appreciate your support and interest. We hope that you will be able to find a way to provide financial support to this worthy cause. If you have any ideas to help us achieve our fundraising goal or you would like to participate in a fundraising initiative or organize a learning and teaching supply collection drive, please feel free to send an e-mail to kilimanjarochallenge2013@gmail.com.
Asanteni sana (Thank you very much),
Deb and Greg
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