This program exists because many children we work with have no alternative pathway into the education system. They are children connected to the street or living in highly vulnerable households where school fees, food, and basic care make education impossible.

Our organization provides free tuition and daily nutrition, ensuring children can enter and remain in preschool and transition successfully into primary education. However, access alone is not enough. For education to be meaningful and lasting, we invest in the full learning ecosystem.

Our work includes:

• Continuous teacher training and mentorship

• Play-based and child-centered learning methodologies

• Learning materials, equipment, and safe built environments

• Community and parental workshops

• Psychosocial support through art and music-based activities

• School farms, providing at least two nutritious meals per day for children from food-insecure households

This program became possible through years of trust built with the community and supporters. The sponsorship model was initiated by a group of committed volunteers to create long-term, stable support for children, allowing the organization to redirect core funds toward capacity building, teacher development, and grassroots empowerment, rather than emergency-driven spending.

We explicitly reject charity models based on pity, ownership, or saviourism.

Our sponsorship model is built on shared responsibility and dignity. Support is never framed as “saving” a child. Instead, sponsors act as long-term allies to a child’s education, similar to a godparent role, while parents, teachers, and the community remain the primary caregivers and decision-makers.

Key ethical principles we follow:

• All financial support flows through schools and families, never directly to children.

• Children are not publicly ranked, or compared based on sponsorship, creating peer inequality.

• We do not share images of children receiving goods, except when explicitly requested for a specific occasion and handled privately. This is done through parents and techers.

• This prevents inequality, stigma, and emotional harm within classrooms.

All materials shared on our website:

• Are created by local teachers and team members

• Are shared only with informed consent from parents or guardians

• Are reviewed to ensure they protect children’s dignity, privacy, and safety.

Our priority is not visibility - it is child protection, equality, and long-term well-being.

We take accountability seriously and provide structured updates.

Sponsors receive:

• Quarterly progress reports covering education, well-being, and program outcomes. (Additional option of termly education updates for sponsored student by the teachers.)

• An annual program report from the organization.

• Access to direct updates from the local team, including photos of school activities and milestones (never exploitative content)

• The option to visit the community, coordinated transparently through our registered NGO in Arusha.

Our monitoring and reporting systems are led by the local team to ensure updates reflect real progress, not curated narratives.

We strongly encourage collective and institutional support.

Families, companies, and communities can support the program holistically, allowing local teachers and staff to allocate funds where they are most impactful-whether that is school operations, meals, training, or learning materials.

This form of support strengthens:

• Continuity of free education

• School meal programs

• Teacher capacity and retention

• Long-term sustainability and operations of preschools.

To explore structured or long-term partnerships, please contact us via the website or directly at:
📧 umojamaono@gmail.com

Yes. Our model is flexible and respects the realities of supporters’ lives.

Sponsors may:

• Support multiple children

• Transfer sponsorship if a child changes schools or becomes financially stable

• Redirect support to another child in urgent need

• Adjust their contribution or switch to a different support package.

Sponsorships can be discontinued after the agreed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) period, by formally ending the contribution. This ensures stability for children while respecting sponsors’ autonomy.

Yes, connection is possible, but it is carefully mediated.

Sponsors may:

• Exchange letters through local schools

• Participate in supervised calls or meetings coordinated by the NGO

• Join our volunteering program

• Visit the community and stay at our supporter house

All interactions are governed by child protection policies, prioritizing safety, emotional well-being, and respect for family and cultural boundaries. Financial support is never used to create dependency or access beyond what is ethically appropriate.