Tupendane
Tupendane
Tupendane partners with families and schools to help children grow up healthy, educated, and trained to earn an income. They partner with primary schools to provide daily school breakfast and ensure schools have adequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene facilities. Self-Reliant School Breakfast farms provide daily breakfast inputs. A parent Task Force at each schools helps Tupendane organize local parents to grow corn and beans on school property. Student-led School Garden Clubs grow organic vegetables and bananas. Tupendane supports these grassroots efforts by improving water distribution systems and ensuring each school has toilets, hand wash basins, and clean kitchens.
Team: Deo, Nazael, Omari, Emmanuel, and Hadija
The People
Community
Kahe Ward is located just outside of Moshi at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The ward is home to roughly 28,000 people and 8 primary schools. Most families tend small plots of 2 acres or less and depend on agriculture and livestock to make their living. Tupendane’s pilot farm sits close to Kisangasangeni, Oria, and Maendeleo Primary Schools. Visitors may also camp at Mwangaria Primary School.
Families
Kahe is a large and diverse ward. There is no dominant tribe or religion and families from many different backgrounds live side-by-side. Since 2010 Tupendane has built relationships with local primary schools. Breakfast feeding and WASH programs keep students in school and able to focus on learning.
Local Team Contact
Deogratius “Deo” Matemu is the manager of Tupendane. After spending many years managing tour groups, he decided to start his own company with a greater focus on improving the community. He started Tupendane in 2009 to provide on-the-ground management for international development projects. In recognition of his contributions to the community, the people of Kahe elected Deo onto the village advisory board in 2015.
Programs
School WASH
Good hygiene and sanitation facilities are critical to keeping kids in school. Tupendane has built new toilet blocks for six primary schools. Safe toilets reduce illness, improve attendance, and keep schools from being closed down for hygienic reasons. Other WASH projects include hand-wash basins, water connections, wells, and kitchens.
School Gardens
Student Garden Clubs maintain banana and vegetable gardens at each school. The gardens supplement corn and beans grown on the farm to provide a nutritious breakfast porridge. In addition to getting breakfast students learn practical skills like compost and seedling production and life skills like leadership, organization, and teamwork.
Breakfast Farms
School breakfast is one of the most efficient and effective ways to increase attendance and performance at schools. Tupendane is collaborating with primary schools to help them build and maintain Self-Reliant School Breakfast Farms. The objective of the program is for schools to eventually grow their own ingredients for breakfast without outside charity.