HISTORY

The idea to establish Worldview Education and Care Inc. started in 2007 when Bob and Ann Avery were on vacation in Tanzania. Introduced to the village of Nshupu on the slopes of Mount Meru (Africa’s second largest mountain), Bob and Ann visited Huruma Orphanage there, and provided a small amount of support. Some of their friends and family indicated a desire to help support Huruma as well, so they formed Worldview as a 501(c)(3) to enable donations to Huruma to be tax deductible.

In the early days of Worldview, support for initiatives was largely serendipitous, helping with small initiatives or projects in addition to continuing support to Huruma Orphanage. Worldview contributed to the Nagre Sero Trust water project, which brought a tap to the village so that villagers did not have to travel as far to get their water. Fundraising efforts enabled Worldview to purchase a vehicle for the orphanage, provide some medical equipment donations to a small private clinic in the district, and paid medical treatment for the orphans and staff at Huruma.

Through a connection in Meru District, Bob and Ann were introduced to Chris Kariz and Ally Mhina, who were founders of a small local NGO called “TEKUA” that provided educational opportunities in English, computers, art, and continuing education to youth. Impressed by the initiative, Worldview provided assistance to TEKUA to improve their infrastructure, and provided scholarships for some of Worldview’s local staff in Tanzania to take English lessons there.

It was after meeting Chris and Ally with TEKUA that the seeds of Worldview’s current mission to support locally-conceived and community-owned initiatives were sewn. TEKUA had started the Girls’ Empowerment program back in 2006, but the NGO lacked consistent and sufficient funding to keep the program going. In 2009, Worldview decided to collaborate with TEKUA to support its Girls Empowerment Program.

The fall of 2009, Worldview established Hamna Shida House (“No problems” in Swahili). This house provided a residency for six scholarship students who had formerly been orphans at Huruma Orphanage. In collaboration with the Nshupu village chair, Worldview funded the three eldest children to attend Fikiria Kwanza Academy, a private school in nearby Usa River. The three younger children attended public elementary schools while resident in Hamna Shida House. At the time, Worldview provided scholarships to a few other students in Meru District.

In 2010, in addition to support for the Girls’ Empowerment Program, Hamna Shida House, Huruma Orphanage, and scholarships, Worldview provided funds to build a new classroom in the Nshupu Village public secondary school.

Launched in 2011, Worldview created Hamna Shida Women (originally named SAWATA—an acronym for “Saidia wanawake wa Tanzania” or “Helping Women in Tanzania”). The program was small initially, operating on the front porch of a school until it could be moved to separate facilities, and moved locations several times until finally moving into TEKUA headquarters in 2016, which provided far more space and expanded teaching capacity.

Worldview Education and Care (Tanzania) Limited was incorporated in May 2011. In 2012, Worldview undertook the “Community Mobilization for Change” program—an initiative to expand community sensitization and testing for HIV among Meru District residents, in collaboration with the local government.

From 2012-2013, in addition to continued support for our existing initiatives, Worldview contributed to the Nshupu Village Water Project to improve the water supply, sponsored two Hamna Shida House residents through their studies of Hotel, Tourism and Business Management at the Tropical Centre Institute in Arusha, established a Basic Business Skills program (since deactivated), and funded construction of new latrine facilities at the Nshupu village public school.

When the Hamna Shida House residents completed their studies, they no longer needed the residence, and so Hamna Shida House was closed in 2014. The former Hamna Shida House residents was provided with scholarships to continue their post-secondary studies. One studied welding, one became a carpenter, and our last scholarship student remaining from the Hamna Shida House is Happy, who Worldview continues to support as she works towards her law degree.

In 2015, Worldview board members decided to change and clarify the organization’s mission. While the organization had made important contributions in Meru District, the board realized that the best impacts came from supporting locally-conceived and community-supported initiatives, which had the most likelihood to be appropriate to the area, sustainable, and meaningful.

Today, Worldview continues its partnership with TEKUA for the Girls’ Empowerment Program, has expanded the Hamna Shida Women program, and is working in close collaboration with local entities, including local government entities, in order to ensure that the initiatives supported are in line with residents in Meru District think should be priorities for their communities.

As a result of the mission change, in 2015 Worldview began planning an expansion of the maternity ward at the Meru District Hospital, the largest government-owned primary care facility in the district. After several design changes based on the hospital’s needs, the construction of ward expansion began in early 2017. Phase 1 is nearly complete, and Worldview is fundraising for phase 2 of the project.