Global Communities Tanzania Partners with USDA to Boost Literacy Rates through School Feeding Program
Earlier this month, Global Communities Tanzania launched Pamoja Tuwalishe (Together, Let’s Feed Them), the next phase of its U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. This USDA investment builds on the successful 10-year partnership between the Government of Tanzania, the United States Government and Global Communities. In this…
Read MoreUsing the New Digital Savings Group Hub to Eliminate Paper, Inspire Savings
Digitization can feel overwhelming — and even risky when considering inherent equity and access issues. Yet, with the right resources, organizations can go paper-free, or at least reduce that paper output, and save money in the process. We chatted with Paulina Rudnicka, Senior Technical Advisor for Gender Integration at Global Communities, about the launch of…
Read MoreConfronting Climate Change with Bold, Community-Based Actions
By Tanner Roark Climate change is here. It can be seen in every corner of the world, from heatwaves in India and winter storms in Texas to hurricanes in Guatemala and drought in Madagascar. Climate change is cruel. It spares no people or place, and its slow creep of destruction results in the loss of…
Read MoreTogether for our African Girls and Young Women
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the concept of gender equality remains abstract and farfetched. In this day and age, there are still girls and young women who lack access to primary and secondary school due to social, cultural, religious or political reasons; who are not yet reached with comprehensive information on their sexual and reproductive health; who…
Read MoreMeaningful Engagement of Boys and Men: A Pathway to Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence
By Betty Adera, Senior Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS and Health, Global Communities The COVID-19 pandemic has brought discussions of domestic violence and abuse of women and girls into the global public discourse. As I have worked in the space of adolescent girls and young women’s health and well-being at the community level for more than 20…
Read MoreStrengthening School Feeding Systems in Tanzania
For the past 10 years, PCI, a Global Communities Partner, has implemented integrated school feeding programs that help deliver essential nutrition, education, health and development services to more than 240,000 preschool and primary students in the Mara Region of Tanzania. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and support from stakeholders across multiple…
Read MoreSchool WASH Protects Students and Promotes Healthy Learning
Almost half of schools worldwide have no hand-washing facilities and around one-third of schools do not have safe water supplies or adequate sanitation (WHO/Unicef 2020). Without access to clean water at schools, student health is at risk and they lose valuable learning time by having to walk long distances to collect water, often from unprotected…
Read MoreNurturing Tanzania’s Future through Early Childhood Development
Many parents, guardians and caregivers want to ensure their children have the building block skills needed for success in school and in life. To promote preschool readiness in Tanzania’s Mara Region, PCI, a Global Communities Partner, in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania, designed a new strategic and community-based Early Childhood Development program. Mwalimu wa…
Read MoreJoining Forces Against the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tanzania
In a bold effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania, PCI Tanzania and the Mara regional government have teamed up to jointly implement interventions that will contribute to slowing spread of the disease. More than 55 million cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, and the last publicly released data from Tanzania showed…
Read MoreDriving Women’s Financial Inclusion Forward with Digital Technology
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world online, a digital shift was taking place in rural Tanzania, and indeed around the world. In August 2019, following years of design and prototype testing, Project Concern International (PCI), a Global Communities Partner, and DreamStart Labs, a financial technology firm, piloted the DreamSave mobile app with 16…
Read MoreTransforming Fatherhood in Rural Tanzania
New ideas about what it means to be a father and husband are beginning to take root in rural villages of Tanzania. To know this, Beyu Sayi says he has to look no further than the sweet potato plants. Sayi, a nutritionist and District Field Supervisor with the EFFECTS project, tells a story about a…
Read MoreNew Study Explores Impact of Digital Savings Groups in Tanzania
A new study shows that savings groups that use a digital record keeping app experience greater transparency, fewer group conflicts and an increase in financial capability among individual members. The study also found evidence that highlights the need to include gender considerations in the design of savings group apps. These findings and more are presented…
Read MoreMeeting of the Minds: Sharing knowledge across PCI’s school feeding programs
Different languages and long distances often make supporting each other and sharing best practices across programs difficult. To overcome these barriers and help foster intra-organizational learning, PCI recently brought together nearly 30 staff members from four different countries for the 2nd Annual Applied Learning Workshop (ALW) in Tanzania. The primary purpose of the gathering was…
Read MoreA Run to Remember in Tanzania
PCI joins 2019 Serengeti Safari Marathon to promote school meals program Some people run for medals. Others run for sport. On Nov. 16, staff from PCI Tanzania ran the Serengeti Safari Marathon to raise awareness about taking hunger out of the classroom and feeding children’s dreams instead. A total of 44 staff members participated in…
Read MoreGrowing Healthy Food, Connections through School Gardens
When Peter Masaju started a school garden at Suguti A Primary School in Musoma District, Tanzania, he planted the seeds for more than just healthy, homegrown vegetables. He also created an opportunity for parents to feel more rooted in their children’s day-to-day school experiences. “For the past seven years, I have not witnessed such a…
Read MoreIs It Too Late for Systems Thinking? Lessons Learned on Adopting a Market Systems Approach Mid-Program
By Karla Yoder, Global Communities Economic Development/Workforce Specialist This blog was originally published on Marketlinks.org Agribusiness Investment for Market Stimulation (AIMS) is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded initiative to promote trade in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi by increasing access to finance and markets for agricultural small and medium enterprises (A-SMEs). AIMS was not initially…
Read MoreMeet Tanzania’s Safe Water Superhero
Yvonne Mwakisyala understands firsthand how access to clean water and sanitation is critical to keeping girls healthy, safe and on track with their education. “My mum makes a joke that I hated dirty floors so much as a child that I never crawled and moved straight to walking,” says Yvonne, who serves as a construction…
Read MoreNew School Libraries Help Unlock Literacy Among Students in Tanzania
If books open new doors to learning, then libraries hold the key. Yet, neither were within reach to students attending the schools where Project Concern International (PCI) works in the Mara Region of Tanzania. In fact, prior to PCI’s first program interventions in 2016, none of the 231 primary schools in Bunda, Butiama and Musoma…
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