Water
Water in general, and especially clean drinking water, is a fundamental human need. In many parts of Africa, climate change has led to significant changes. Firstly, conditions vary greatly from place to place, and secondly, the distribution of water resources is shifting.
Large-scale weather patterns out of their usual rhythm.
Severe flooding, combined with soil erosion and prolonged droughts, makes cultivating fields and thus ensuring food security increasingly difficult. In this situation, local rainwater storage is of paramount importance. In many villages, this is the only way to guarantee a year-round water supply.
To date, the foundation has enabled the construction of more than six underground water cisterns, each with a capacity of 40 m³, which store and preserve rainwater. The construction of further cisterns remains an ongoing task.
The village of Kibanda was connected to a deep well using a diesel pump and a 1.8 km long pipeline. All the equipment, including the solar panels, was assembled in Germany, transported in a container, and commissioned on-site by the foundation.
Our commitment to a safer water supply will continue to be an essential part of our work.
food
In our region, food production is primarily based on self-sufficiency. Besides seasonal and locally grown fruits (oranges, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, etc.), it is mainly the cultivation of crops as staple foods that ensures our food supply. Maize (as maize flour, the basis of the national dish ugali) and sunflowers (for oil) are the most important sources of carbohydrates . Extensive farming of cattle, pigs, and especially poultry, which often roam freely and forage for their own food, provides protein. The challenges lie in the significant seasonal and weather-related fluctuations and the limited possibilities for food preservation.
Almost all fieldwork is done by hand, making it very limited in terms of both space and time. The financing of tractors, plows, and disc harrows has significantly increased productivity in the village of Hale. This has allowed the most arduous tasks to be mechanized and expanded.
Also in Hale, a corn mill and an oil press, along with a generator, were purchased for the further processing of field products.
Food preservation is an important goal for the foundation. Methods such as sterilization, refrigeration, and freezing are little known and not commonly used. This usually also requires a reliable power supply (through solar energy). In two cases, the foundation has installed solar power systems with the necessary capacity.
Education
In Tanzania, approximately 70% of the population can read and write. At primary school, children are taught in Swahili, with English also being offered as a second language of instruction (provided there are enough teachers). About two-thirds of the children leave primary school with a certificate. Attendance is free.
Those who pass the primary school leaving exam can transfer to secondary school, which, however, is subject to fees. Without this qualification, vocational training is not possible. The fees for this school limit participation to approximately 35% of primary school students. This effectively deprives the poorest members of the population of their educational foundation.
It is a long-term goal of the foundation to support education in all its forms. This is achieved on the one hand through targeted support in the form of scholarships for vocational school students and university students, by covering tuition and boarding fees for suitable candidates, and on the other hand through infrastructural support for schools in general.