About Hope
Hope Village for Orphans and Vulnerable Children is a non-profit organization operating in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Area, Tanzania. It strives to improve the quality of life of orphans and all vulnerable children.
The major goal of the organization is to provide essential development services to all orphans and vulnerable children from the community, including unconditional love, care, education, health services and a safe and secure home.
The founder of the organization, Miss Cecilia Fadhili Meshy, saw the problems in her society and was so touched she dedicated her entire life to taking care of these children; in order to save their lives and bring about positive changes in the society as whole. She has taken sole responsibility for these children and their needs.
Hope Village was funded in February 2011 and the initial goal is to provide 10 -15 children from Moshi (urban and rural) with a safe and nurturing home. This number will increase as more resources become available. It is important not to neglect the standard of care in exchange for higher numbers.
Hope Village currently relies on contributions from local good wishers and friends. Volunteers contribute their time and energy; donors contribute funds for necessities like food, clothing and medicines.
Background and Statistics
Kilimanjaro Region is one of the most popular areas of Tanzania. Because of its proximity to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti it attracts visitors from all over the world. However, the region also has some of the highest numbers of orphans and vulnerable children in the country. Some of the reasons include early marriage and pregnancy - Tanzania has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world (AMRF Canada) - parental separation and death of parents due to the high rate of HIV/AIDS.
"AIDS orphans have been increasing in number while families, communities and the Government cannot cope with the needed resources to cater for their needs." (Tanzania National Website)
There are 1,300,000 children orphaned by AIDS in Tanzania and 3,000,000 children orphaned due to all causes. (UNICEF)
The AIDS epidemic has also had a serious impact on the country's economy. It has especially affected agricultural production, from which almost 80% of the population derive their livelihoods. (World Bank Development Indicators)
GDP per capita is only US$ 503. (World Bank) Malaria alone accounts for a 3.5% loss in GDP. 89% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day. (UNICEF)
This means that many single parents don't have the means to support their children and many orphans are literally left to fend for themselves. With no access to healthcare and essentials like ITNs (insecticide-treated nets), 80,000 children under 5 die because of Malaria every year. (AMREF Tanzania) 22% of children under 5 are underweight and the under 5 mortality rate is 180, one of the highest in the world. (UNICEF)
While we by no means have the capacity to help all orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania, we can start by giving just a few a fighting chance and hope for the future.
Constitution
The vision
To be a center that provides quality and equitable care for vulnerable and orphaned children.
The mission
To use community resources mobilized through participatory approaches to provide care for orphans and vulnerable children in the community. To provide children with quality and equitable social services so that they become happy and self-reliant members of society. Our organization is dedicated to helping orphans and vulnerable children grow in mind, body and spirit. If children are the focus of development efforts, we can build a strong and caring community.
The organization shall be a non-governmental, non-political, non-profitable and non-religious, devoted to carrying out the aims and objectives specified in this constitution.
The official languages of the organization shall be Kiswahili and English.