African Initiatives

Land Rights and Gender Equality: Part 1
Following the success of our Big Give Christmas Challenge raising money for our Equal Rights to Quality Education project, we want to update you about another of our projects:
Our ‘community resilience for pastoralists through land rights and gender equality’ project, which works with pastoralist communities in the rural north of Tanzania and commenced in April 2018, is one of our newest institutionally funded projects.
... This week, we look at the problems faced by the pastoralist communities currently, and how we aim to deal with them.
Dispossession of land is a major challenge to pastoralist communities in Tanzania.
Pastoralist communities depend on land for their livelihoods and well-being; this way of life is under supported by the Tanzanian government, who favour land use for conservation and tourism agendas. Pastoralists are often seen as barriers to investment, and as a result, are marginalised.
Tanzania and other countries in East Africa are affected by climate change, increasing drought in the region causes resource scarcity. For pastoralist communities, this is exacerbating by the shortage of grazing land for herds.
Pastoralists value communal sharing of resources, with communal ownership building social cohesion, however, as the community lack formal land rights, their communal livelihood is threatened.
Next week, in part 2, we will look at gender inequality and women’s rights in pastoralist communities.
If you are interested in reading further, check out our blog on the project: http://www.african-initiatives.org.uk/eng ishon-gender-equ…/…#
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The African Initiatives team would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone who got involved in our The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18.
We are delighted to announce that a total of £17,350 was raised to help marginalised girls and boys in northern Tanzania access a quality education.
We had a great week running the appeal, made so much better with the support of our very generous donors and followers.
... While we can no longer access match-funds, if you did not get a chance to donate over the past week, you can still support our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project here:
https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/projects /view/30326/
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This morning is your last chance to have your donation doubled for our Christmas Appeal: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/donation /to/4779/30326/
Please help us hit our The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18 £18,000 target - £5 will be worth £10 for our Equal Rights to Quality Education project and would provide 1 Maasai school girl with uniform, textbooks, and hygiene products to attend secondary school for 5 months.

There is only a few hours to go until our Christmas Appeal ends.
With £11,000 raised, we are still £7,000 from our overall target. Help us achieve our aim of raising £18,000 to help support our Equal Rights to Quality Education project.
Read more and donate here: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/projects /view/30326/
... Your online donation will be doubled if you give before midday tomorrow. £10 will be worth £20 which could provide 4 students with shoes to protect them during long distances walked to and from school.
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As part of our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project, we facilitate quality school inspections. Ngikundael Mgase, pictured below, is a Chief Quality Assurer of Monduli district.
He told us how “it is impossible for the government to understand the challenges that hinder school performance without our reports.”
After an inspection of Mbaashi Primary School, the government recruited a new head teacher and the school committee now actively mobilises the local community to supp...ort education. The pupils performed far better in their end of year exams.
Your donations to The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18 Appeal will support Pastoral Women's Council, Community Aid and Small Enterprises Consultancy (CASEC) and Community Research and Development Services in promoting a quality standard of teaching for pupils.
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The African Initiatives team are feeling so thankful for the generosity of our supporters towards our The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18 Appeal. Pupils at Boaboa Primary School, Mbulu District wanted to say 'Ahsante' (thank you in swahili).
You have 24 hours left to donate and have your gift doubled! Don’t forget to get your friends and family involved in the appeal as well by sharing this post.
Donate here and help us support girls and boys in Tanzania to have access to a qu...ality education: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/…/Equa l+Rights+to+Quality+…
£40 would train 4 peer educators to support pupils in ensuring they have knowledge on HIV and child rights.
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Today is #InternationalDayofPersonswithDisabilitie s!
We thought we would take some time from our #ChristmasChallenge18 to tell you about our Disability Inclusion for Village Community Banking (VICOBA) project. The project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and is active in two villages in the Nija Panda ward in northern Tanzania.
Here is a clip of KP, who is blind, and is a beneficiary of the VICOBA project, discussing what life is like living with a disability.
... https://youtu.be/8zyXtGmR7JE
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Nelson Mandela said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ and we at African Initiatives agree with him!
Our Programmes Manager Marta Medusa, Trustee Adrian Marshall and Programmes Officer Becky Mallows think #educationis power!
By donating to our The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18, your gift will go towards ensuring #equalrightstoqualityeducation for school children! Help us empower young people.
... Just £20 would buy a pair of shoes to protect four students to walk the long distance to school.
With just two days to go, you can donate here - and have your gift doubled - to help us change the lives of marginalised boys and girls living in northern Tanzania: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/…/equa lrightstoqualityeduc…
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We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated! We have been overwhelmed with your generosity to our Christmas Appeal.
So far, we have raised £5,500, and we are a little way off our overall £18,000 target. Luckily we have three days left of matched donations so don’t hesitate to get involved to help us change the lives of marginalised girls and boys for the better.
You one donation will have twice the impact. £5 will be worth £10 which would provide a ...secondary school teacher with 1 day training on gender-based violence, drug abuse and menstrual hygiene management.
Visit our project page where you can read more about Equal Rights to Quality Education and donate: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/projects /view/30326/
Keep sharing the message with your friends and family to help spread the word!
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It has been brought to our attention that someone named Sharon James has been posing as an HR recruiter from African Initiatives using this email: recruitment@africa-initiatives.org.
Anyone receiving an email from “Africa Initiatives” should ignore the email and not open any attachments. If in doubt, please check our website for advertised posts and follow the instructions we provide: http://www.african-initiatives.org.uk/get -inv…/work-with-us/

Yesterday, some of our lovely African Initiatives team did a bucket collection outside Lloyds Bank in Bristol to raise funds for our @BigGive #ChristmasChallenge18!
We collected £224 which will go towards supporting our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project!
A special thank you goes to our dedicated volunteers who helped make this event a success, and have helped change the lives of girls like those pictured below.

Our volunteer Communications Officer Jessica Louise spoke with Simon Daffi and the team at our partner Community Aid and Small Enterprises Consultancy (CASEC) about the current education system in Tanzania and our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project.
Overall, the CASEC team noted that the quality of education in Tanzania is slowly being reformed, but there is a lot of work that still needs to be done to improve girls’ access to education.
Read Jess’ blog here: http://www.african-initiatives.org.uk/the -casec-team-share…/

On the third day of our campaign, we wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported our Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18 so far. We are excited to announce that we have raised £3,080 which can provide 600 textbooks on different subjects that can serve as supplementary learning materials for our 70 project schools.
Maanda Ngoitiko, the founder of our longest-standing partner Pastoral Women's Council told us how the resources available in Tanzania’s schools are still... minimal.
Limited access to sanitary products is an ongoing problem for teenage girls as it leads to discomfort and distraction, with many girls having to miss school during the days of their period, which in turn impacts their academic performance.
£24 would provide a Maasai school girl with uniform, textbooks, and hygiene products to attend secondary school for a year. All gifts are doubled so just £12 would help ensure a girl has all she needs to focus and learn at school.
https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/…/equa lrightstoqualityeduc…
One donation, twice the impact.
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Our Fundraising Officer Holly Burchett believes #educationis fulfilling and empowering.
Education opens minds and provides job opportunities, it lifts families and communities out of poverty and strengthens a country’s economy.
A key aim of our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project is to improve access to education through working with school committees and boards, highlighting their responsibilities in relation to school management and children’s rights. At community leve...l, we work with traditional leaders, parents and Ward Development Committees to raise the profile of equal access to quality education through community meetings.
£15 would provide 3 children with food at school for a week, allowing them to concentrate fully on their studies, free from the distraction of hunger, in order to achieve their full academic potential: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/…/equa lrightstoqualityeduc…
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Today the African Initiatives team is running a Christmas stall in the foyer of Brunswick Court to fundraise for our #ChristmasChallenge18 Appeal!
We are selling Maasai products including jewellery, scarves and artwork, as well raffle tickets and a selection of homemade cakes. Raffle prizes include a makeup tutorial and a selection of ales from a local brewery.

Anastazia is a direct beneficiary from our Equal Rights to Quality Education project and the face of our Christmas Appeal this year. For her, supporters like you are so important.
Anastazia’s mother supports the family financially. Her mother left the family to escape the abuse from her father, and Anastazia was forced to miss weeks of school to look after her 6 younger siblings.
Thanks to our project, Anastazia’s absence at school was noted. Her mother later returned home,... and the school explained to both parents the importance of her education.
“This project helped me so much. I was given extra lessons so I could catch up and I made it through my exams! I know I am fortunate, and without this project I would be married and have no choices. Education is my escape.”
One of the main aims of our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project is to increase schools’ capacity to handle incidents of neglect and better support its students. More widely, this helps to change negative community attitudes towards the value of girls’ education.
#ChristmasChallenge18
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Do you share our vision that all children should have access to quality education?
As part of our #equalrightstoqualityeducation project our partners provide training, mentoring and support to teachers to diversify teaching methodologies and improve classroom participation. Teachers are also trained on core subjects such as Maths and Science.
Loishooki Laiser, a teacher at Longido Primary School enthused, “I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to receive this training on ne...w and more effective teaching methodologies, and I believe positive changes are going to happen to all teachers in delivering their classes. In preparing lessons more effectively and using teaching aids such as song and drama, students’ performance in schools will be strengthened.”
£10 would provide a secondary school teacher with 1 day training on gender-based violence, drug abuse and menstrual hygiene management.
Donate now and your gift will be matched: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/…/equa lrightstoqualityeduc…
One donation, twice the impact. The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge18
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