Tanzania

YOUTH AGAINST AIDS AND POVERTY ASSOCIATION (YAAPA)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

YAAPA is a non profit, non political and non religious organization. It was established in 2005 and legally registered in Tanzania under The Non Governmental Organization Act (2002) with Registration Number 06NGO0451 on 19^th March, 2008. It is dedicated to help and serve youths, children, orphans, vulnerable and marginalized groups from poverty, ignorance and diseases and making them access human rights including rights for education.

2.0 YAAPA’s OBJECTIVES

YAAPA is dealing with five specific objectives including the following:

2.1        Promotion of Education for All Especially Vulnerable Children and Youths: This is done through Nursery Schools, Education support and Vocational training. At this stage promotion of reading, writing and counting numbers is emphasized. Thus it’s my hope that IBBY will support Tanzania National Section to achieve “reading and writing skillsstrategy” among Youths and Children”, hence IBBY National section standing firm and operates strongly in Tanzania.

2.2        Boosting Community Self -Reliance: This is done by doing some cultural and developmental programs like community income generation projects, social and humanitarian services to orphans and vulnerable groups including developing their careers.

2.3        Improving Health Prevention and Care Services to Communities: This is done through HIV and AIDs’ Counseling, Home Based care service giving to Youths and Children living with HIV and AIDs, helping and supporting careers of grandparents including elders and widows.

2.4        Environmental Protection and Conservation: This is done by encouraging and empowering Youths and Children to fully participate in environmental control projects including aforestation and cleanliness of public centers such as Health centers.

2.5        Sensitizing and Advancing Human Rights and Protections: This is done by conducting community sensitization discussions, presentations and trainings on Human Rights’ skills (Rights of People with disabilities, Children, Women, Orphans, Elders and Youths) rights for education and survival as well as rights to access social services in which education is inclusive.  

On the matter of workers, YAAPA is having ten workers (five are Males and five are Females) whereas three Males and one Female are full time and two Males and four Females are part time workers.

3.0 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ORGANIZATION

In a general way it is enough to state categorically that YAAPA has a lot of achievements for many interventions have been conducted where as more than five thousand Youths, Children, orphans, People with disabilities and  People living with HIV are served morally as well as materially. It is enough to say that skills and awareness raising campaigns have reached more than ten thousand community members, many of them being youths and children.

4.0 YAAPA’S CURRENT CHALLENGES

Though YAAPA has been serving Youths and Children for so long, it still faces some challenges hindering proper implementation of the above noted objectives. Such challenges include the following:

i. Lack of Resources especially Financial Resources.

ii. Lack of Resources especially Physical Resources. This includes office resources (Computers and their accessories) and Vehicles. This is due to the fact that YAAPA depends on Donor Funds, thus being not self reliant. We are of the view that YAAPA should secure Local Funding Resources and/ or projects for its proper service giving and it’s sustainability. For us to have means of transport especially a Vehicle will easy accomplishment of our goals.

iii. Capacity building is still needed to workers and the community as well. That is adequate skills and knowledge of the target population is the must so as to deriver properly what is intended by the Organization and the Government as well.

Likely, there are lots of changes to the Laws and regulations in Tanzania. Thus, workers are supposed to get some training on Laws and Regulations on issues related to Youths, Children and Orphans. These trainings will help workers to provide skills accordingly.

5.0 YAAPA’s CURRENT STRATEGIES

YAAPA’s major and current dreams’ projects are to have and establish the following:

      i.         To have and operate “Mobile Libraries” for Youths and Street Children in towns and cities of Tanzania for they are too many in streets meandering here and there aimlessly with no hope.

     ii.         To have and operate “Floating Boat Libraries” in villages along Lakes in Tanzania especially Lakes Tanganyika, Victoria and Nyasa. This is very important because most of the Children are engaged in fishing and fish process activities in very early stages to the extent that they neither access education nor health services’ rights, hence becoming ignorant and living in miserable poverty. These reading programs will be operated hand in hand with trainings and mobilization on social issues, community participation, good governance and human rights being inclusive.

    iii.         To create, have and operate “a Virtue Library” for Youths and Children living in cities of Tanzania to get connected to those ones living in rural, remote and marginalize areas such as those living in the western part of Tanzania along Lake Tanganyika. This can be done by cards, designs, and the like.

6.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS

I once again thank IBBY Founder members for introducing such important and helpful ideas for Youths and Children in particular. Special thanks should go to the current Director, for welcoming and assisting Tanzania to attend this historical and important Regional Conference in Accra, Ghana. It’s my hope that the meeting will be very beneficial especially for me- a new comer from Tanzania. It’s my hope that I’ll meet with other IBBY members, I expect to increase and improve helpful connections. Thus helping IBBY Tanzania Section stands as firm as it is in other nations like Ghana. I’m sure that Director Liz will continue assisting Tanzania to the extent that IBBY in Tanzania will become strong operating as in the rest of the countries.

In collaboration,

I remain.

Bernard Rusomyo

IBBY National Section

Tanzania East Aftrica

Contacts: Mobile Phone +255753110318

Email: bernardrusomyo12@gmail.com

September 2019