The idea of the old proverb that says Charity begins at home was an attestation to my three days experience at my ancestral home in Kagera region. During my 2011 summer vacation in Tanzania I took a three days trip for the first time as an adult to the village, Ngote. This is the place where I spent my first two years as a child before my dad left for Europe and  my mother and I  moved to Singida for a few months, then later on Dar-es- salaam, the capital of Tanzania. So, you can imagine the feeling of anxiety going back to a place you left three decades ago. During my visit I had a chance to speak to some of the villagers who had come to see me at my grandmother’s house. The village is located 8km from the main roads at Lunazi, the commercial town of the area. There are no roads, no clean running water and no clinic in this village. During labor women have to walk to a clinic 10km away in another town. Most often these women ended up giving birth on their way to the clinic. If you are not lucky depending on the complications of the pregnancy you may die on your way or loose the baby

But biggest concern I had from the villagers was Education for their children. Children from village and other surrounding  two villages attend the the same and the only school in the village called Murungu Primary school. After talking to the mothers and fathers and hear what they have to say about the school I decided to tour the school myself and to see what I heard from the parents of these children. I must admit I have never seen anything like this. It was shocking, depressing and heartbreaking to see the conditions under which these children are supposed to learn. The school has only one complete classroom which is being used by standard seven and a small storage room used by the teachers as an office. The rest of the students sit and study under the trees and on the grass.

The school has only 4 teachers to teach the entire school of 421 students(ie from standard 1-7,). As I mentioned earlier these children who attend this school come from three villages including Ngote where my grandmother lives. When I asked one of the teachers what happened when it rains, he told me they move all the students to the two rooms they have, the only completed classroom and the storage room used as an office by the teachers. Besides the structural school problem there is also the personal or the human side. Most of these students and teachers walk a long distance to and from school. Majority of the students uniforms are worn out, their shirts are ripped off and they have no shoes and no school bags.

After spending almost two hours in the school I then had the opportunity to ask the students some questions. We talked, laughed, played a little ball, sang and so much more. These children are amazing as any other children anywhere. They have hope and big dreams just like any other kids in the developed world. They want to be lawyers, doctors, teachers and pilots but the opportunities seem elusive. The vexting question is what and how to help these children to succeed in their own way.

During my questioning the students were clear and convincing what kind of assistance they needed for themselves and the school as well as the communities at large. When I asked the students what changes they would love to see they all said they would like to have completed and furnished classrooms, a library full of books, more teachers, water and toilets. They also talked about a road leading to their various villages and to the main roads where their parents undertake commercial activities.

In my opening paragraph I talked about the proverb, ‘charity begins at home’. It is natural to take care of people close to you before embarking on a greater cause. It would be irresponsible to walk way from one of the most humongous and heart wrenching problems I have seen in my life in my ancestral place while focusing on other issues. The children need our help. Aspiration is the cornerstone of social context. These children are full of aspirations, hopes and big dreams.

Consequently,Global Fashion New York is proud to announce that we are adopting Murungu Primary School in Tanzania as our first international project, a project that is going to take about 5 years to complete. The project will focus on building classrooms, a library, a clinic and sponsoring the construction of roads to link the main road at the major town of Lunazi. Global Fashion New York can not do this alone. I would like to appeal to my friends and well wishers to assist in bringing this project to a successful completion.

In a short time an announcement would be made as to when, what and how the financing of the project would be done.

Thank you all.

Rosemary Kokuhilwa

Chairman/CEO, Global Fashion New York Inc;