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HABARI!
News from
Godparents for Tanzania
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Looking back...
2008 was a great year for G4TZ |
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Thank you for helping to make 2008 a very important year for our organization. Here are some of the highlights:
- A new name and a new logo.
- A new member of the Board of Directors, Mama Eunice Maringo from Moshi, Tanzania.
- Two successful Discovery Safaris with a total of 31 travelers.
- The graduation from medical school of our first two students-two new doctors for Tanzania.
- On-site interviews with over a hundred of our students.
- A new Tanzania Program Coordinator, Pastor Yotham Baha, and a $12,000 gift to support his work.
- A $10,000 grant proposal to support students at the College of African Wildlife Management (see below).
- Five education projects all of which made great strides during the year and a sixth exciting project in the planning stages.
- Online giving established through our web site with Network for Good.
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Godparents for Tanzania receives grant
for Mazingira Partnership and Scholarship Fund |
Godparents for Tanzania has received a $10,000 grant to begin a scholarship fund for young Tanzanians pursuing a career in wildlife management. The Mazingira (Environmental) Partnership and Scholarship Fund will send deserving students to the College of African Wildlife Management, internationally recognized for excellence in wildlife management training, in Mweka, Tanzania. Students will receive tuition support and a stipend for living expenses in exchange for their commitment to live and work in the area of wildlife management in Tanzania for at least five years.
Tourism is Tanzania's third largest source of revenue, so caring for the nation's wildlife conservation areas and national parks is a promising career opportunity for young people. G4TZ founder and president Dwayne Westermann said, "We really believe that programs like the Mazingira Fund can break the cycle of poverty and unemployment for as many students as we are able to reach, while improving the environment and the economy of the country at the same time. There's no shortage of ability or motivation among our students; the only thing holding them back is a lack of opportunity. If we can just give them a chance, they are going to succeed and make their country a better place."
This starter grant was awarded by Environmental Resources Management (ERM), one of the world's leading providers of environmental and related consulting services. ERM works for Global Fortune 500 companies in over 160 different countries. The ERM Foundation supports social and environmental projects around the world. It is led by ERM employees who volunteer their time to undertake the majority of fundraising and practical involvement.
Here is a quick and easy way you can help right now. We are creating a donations page for this project at GiveMeaning.com. We need 100 people who believe this is a worthwhile project to cast a vote in its favor. We will then be allowed to proceed with creating the donations page. Please click here to be given an opportunity to vote, then click the Vote Now button. You are not being requested to make a donation. Right now, we just need your vote. Thank you! Click here to learn more about the Mazingira Partnership and Scholarship Fund. Click here to join our Cause on Facebook! |
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New computer lab/internet cafe
project now on the drawing board |
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To be located on the main road to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti, a new computer lab/internet cafe project is now on the drawing board. With the assistance of Rotary International and other donors, the project is envisioned to be a resource for teaching computers for the students of the Karatu Vocational Training Centre and the Karatu community. At the same time, the facility will be self-sustaining through income generated by its use as an internet cafe. Profits will be designated for a scholarship fund to ensure students at the Karatu Vocational Training Centre can receive training.
Thousands of foreign guests travel the Karatu Road annually to visit some the world's most famous safari destinations. Karatu is the "last stop" before entering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and an ideal place to offer travelers a last chance to send and receive emails, make use of modern and clean restroom facilities and enjoy a cup of coffee and a snack.
Many of our scholarship students live and attend secondary school in the Karatu area, most of which do not have computer labs. The new project will be a wonderful resource for our students and those throughout the community to have access to computer classes and the internet.
Watch for more information coming soon on the new Karatu Vocational Training Centre computer lab and internet café.
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2010 Discovery Safari dates set |
Discovery Safaris, the travel program of Godparents for Tanzania, will depart Dulles Int'l Airport on June 23, 2010 for a two week, 10 day in-country safari to visit our friends in Tanzania.
We will visit our students, their schools, hospitals and churches as well as go "on safari" to some of the most famous game parks in the world.
Join us next year for an extraordinary adventure in Tanzania, East Africa! Sign up soon on our web site or contact the trip  leader, Dwayne Westermann at 540.353.6341 or click here to email him for more information. Space is limited!
For more information, click here to go directly to the Discovery Safaris section of our web site..
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Looking ahead...
From the President: What the future holds |
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Often we want to be able to see into the future. We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?" There are no answers to these questions. Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day. The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Henri Nouwen
Godparents for Tanzania has been walking by faith since the beginning, never really sure where we would find the money to take the next step. When I have unfaithfully worried aloud about this with our friends in Tanzania, they all say the same thing: "God will provide." And, they have been right. I am continually amazed as people have come forward to help us take the next step, to help us keep our kids in school, to help us provide even more scholarships for bright, eager, young students. Indeed, I am surprised at how far we have gone!
In this time of economic uncertainty, when taking the next step seems almost too optimistic, we shall continue the journey, step by step, and we shall do so listening to our friends in Tanzania as they remind us, "God will provide."
Thank you for walking with us, step by step.
Dwayne J. Westermann, President
Godparents for Tanzania
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Godparents for Tanzania
is a 501(c)(3) public charity
incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Post: P.O. Box 20221, Roanoke, VA 24018
Voice: 540~353~6341
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