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 SALAMA:
TANZANIA - Students for the Advancement
of Learning and Medical Aid in Tanzania (SALAMA:
Tanzania)
HISTORY: Fatuma
Gwao, a single Tanzanian mother of four, started
a school in her living room. Fatuma lived in a
poor neighborhood in Dar es Salaam called Mbagala.
She could not afford books, desks, or any other
teaching supplies. Nonetheless, she provided a
primary education to 13 local children. With the
help of her oldest son, Dickson, she maintained
the school through the 1990s and in 2001, an American
(Jann Mitchell) traveling in Tanzania, happened
to meet Fatuma.
Jann
was so touched by the bright students and their
lack of playthings that she immediately went back
to town and purchased a few toys and books. Jann
returned to the US and continued to fundraise and
donate to the school. With the donations Jann raised,
Fatuma was able to build two large classrooms.
In
2007, students Brian Christie, Paul Reynolds, and
Ben Robbins were working with organizations in
Dar when they visited the school. Over the course
of the following year, they developed close friendships
with the school staff and the students. These relationships
prompted Brian, Ben and Paul to found SALAMA: TANZANIA,
with the support of Dartmouth College and three
Dartmouth Medical doctors.
Today there is an urgent need to
expand the school to include grades 3-7 so these
students can pursue their enthusiasm for learning
and proceed to public high school to fulfill their
dreams for a meaningful life.
SALAMA:
Tanzania was launched as a part of Dartmouth’s
Global Health Initiative. The organization began
as a way to accept and pursue tax-deductible donations
for organizations that provide an education or
medical aid to children in Tanzania.
The
founders of SALAMA hope to help meet the basic
needs of the children served by our recipient organizations
by ensuring that they have access to preventative
and treatment-oriented medical care, and that they
receive the best opportunity to continue their
education past the primary grades
Donations
can be made through www.salamatanzania.org
Ben
Robbins
Co-chair,
SALAMA: Tanzania
www.salamatanzania.org
(608)
772-0616
SALAMA:
Tanzania
3304 Blackhawk
Dr.
Madison,
WI, 53705
  
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