Funding required: $53,950
This project will help: 261 children
Estimated Completion date: August 2025
Country: Tanzania
Executive summary
At the KKKT Ilongero Child Development Centre in Tanzania, centre staff are dedicated to supporting the holistic development and well-being of the 261 registered children and youth they serve. Sadly, inadequate classroom space has presented a serious challenge. Without access to safe, indoor classrooms, centre staff are struggling to effectively teach and mentor students who attend centre programs. Currently, 75 per cent of participants attend class outside under the shade of a tree without blackboards or whiteboards for teachers to use to share notes. Lack of indoor classroom space creates a distracting learning environment for children. Students are often distracted by people passing by, other classes being held outdoors, outdoor work or even insects and animals. Outdoor learning is also impacted by weather conditions—on hot, sunny days, staff must move students from one shady location to another to keep children cool and safe in the heat, interrupting lessons and disrupting planned schedules. During the rainy season, staff are forced indoors, where classes are combined into one large group that meets in the church corridor. Teaching more than 200 children and youth in a small, crowded space is unmanageable for staff and creates an unhealthy and uncomfortable learning environment. While centre staff recognize the challenge inadequate classroom space presents to the children they serve, the church simply does not have the funds needed to pay for renovations. The church where the KKKT Ilongero Child Development Centre is located depends on donations from its church members; however, most members live in poverty and earn little money. While members support the church with what they have, the church is in dire need of additional help to ensure that staff can promote education, well-being and development of the children they serve. This intervention will see four new classrooms and one staff office built at the KKKT Ilongero Child Development Centre in Tanzania, providing a safe learning environment for registered students. These four classrooms will ensure that students can be effectively divided by age groups and taught age-appropriate lessons from staff. The new classrooms will also be used by participants and staff from the Survival program, which supports 15 moms and babies up to one year old.Background
The KKKT Ilongero Child Development Centre is a frontline church partner working with Compassion International Tanzania. Currently, centre staff serve 261 registered children and youth living in Ilongero from the Singida region of Tanzania. The church was founded in 1985 and has been committed to running child and youth programs since its founding years. In 2024, the church’s children and youth ministry rapidly expanded as the centre received several registered children from the transitional Compassion centre TZ0835. With a sudden influx of new children from different backgrounds and faiths, centre staff have been working to ensure all students feel cared for and supported on program days. Staff have adjusted their curriculums and schedules to create a more structured learning environment to support the 261 students they now care for. However, this rapid expansion has caused a dire need for increased classroom space, as staff simply cannot effectively educate, mentor and support hundreds of students outdoors.The need
Young boys and girls at the KKKT Ilongero Child Development Centre in Tanzania are eager to learn and listen to lessons taught by caring staff on program days. However, without adequate classroom space,75 per cent of the students attend classes outdoors. Children are struggling to pay attention in class, and many feel uncomfortable as they are forced to learn in an overcrowded, inadequate learning environment. Your gift will provide the resources needed to build four new classrooms and an office at the centre, ensuring each child has a safe place to learn with their peers and develop their God-given skills and gifts. With your generous support, these new classrooms will be built with strong and sturdy materials, ensuring a safe and comfortable learning space. Each classroom will also include new tables and chairs. This intervention will mobilize church members and caregivers of registered children to contribute labour, materials and additional funds, empowering the local community and providing local families with a sense of ownership over the centre. With newly built classrooms, children and youth will be able to learn age-appropriate lessons in comfortable classrooms. In addition, Survival caregivers will have access to improved classroom spaces to learn lessons from Survival staff and participate in income-generating workshops.What your gift will do
Your gift will see the construction of four new classrooms for children and one office for staff at the TZ1215 Compassion centre in Tanzania, including:- Construction of classrooms and office:
- Bricks, sand, stones, gravel, cement, steel bars, binding wire, timber for roofing, nails, iron sheets
- Excavation of foundation
- Labour
- Construction of ceilings:
- Gypsum ceiling board (drywall), cornices, nails, powder, fibre tape, softwood timber
- Doors and windows
- Floor finishing
- Sand, cement, strips, gravel
- Painting and decorations
- Paint, weather-guard paint, primer, solvent, brushes, rollers, backboard paint, gloss
- Labour
- Furnishings
Logistics
- Local contribution: US$2,540.08
- Handling of funds: Compassion International Tanzania will work with the centre leadership to ensure this project stays within budget.
- Monitoring and follow-up: Church leadership, project committee members and the project coordinator will work with the partnership facilitator to provide ongoing supervision throughout implementation.