Providing long term care, education and emotional support
Ujama Foundation delivers 2 fundamental programs which provide extremely vulnerable children with long term care, education and emotional support in a family style residential home to create positive outcomes throughout their childhood and into adulthood.
Our years of experience in Community Development show that many children who spend time in residential care are ultimately left as adults who were not fully capable of caring for themselves, and most ended up needing additional support services. While legally, children become adults at 18 years, they are not necessarily prepared to live independently, and we want to ensure that the young ones in our care are given the greatest opportunity for success. We consistently see young adults in our community who are forced out of residential care at 18 years, who end up on the streets or in dire circumstances. They simply don’t have the tools or development to succeed on their own. This increase the need for more programs for street kids and youth initiatives such as vocational training to help these teens and young adults. So we want to make sure we change this cycle for the young adults who have come through Ujama Children’s Home and give them a real opportunity for future success.
This theory, that we have known to be best practice for the last decade, has been supported by the Victorian government in Australia, which piloted a program in 2021 called ‘Home Stretch’ to program provide care services for young adults aged 18-21yrs who have been in residential care. It is important to note that there are no government run or funded residential care programs in Tanzania, so this is something that we have created on our own.
Forward Together is a next stage semi-independent living environment for the young adults currently living at Ujama Children’s Home who have completed their Secondary School education and are over 18 years. We support them through various forms of higher education (University, College, Vocational Training etc) and provide for their housing, security, healthcare, general needs, emotional support, and life skills training.
What we do is about changing the cycle of poverty – one child at a time and creating long term, positive outcomes for our children as they move into adulthood. Our children are the future of Tanzania and we support them to achieve all their dreams. Some of our kids want to be nurses, some want to be teachers, some want to be mechanical engineers and pilots…and one exceptional young man who wants to be the President of Tanzania. With the right education and personal development – we know they can do it!
Our children are raised in a family style home where they live together as a siblings, a strong bond that supports them throughout their lives. We take a holistic approach to care, by providing long-term loving support, education and stability for children who have experienced trauma and loss. We do this by having highly trained staff, maintaining small numbers and a close-knit family.