The Olive Branch for Children
Huduma ya afya
TOBFC inashirikiana na serikali za mitaa na wilaya kuleta elimu bora, kwa watoto wa jamii za vijijini.
TOBFC imeanzisha Shule 30 za chekechea mfumo wa Montessori (kila moja "Darasa la Casa") na imekamilisha ujenzi wa majengo 17 ya shule ya Montessori, kwa ajili ya watoto ambao vinginevyo hawangekuwa na elimu "rasmi". Zaidi ya watoto 2,000 kwa sasa wameandikishwa katika Shule ya Chekechea ya Montessori katika shule hizi. Tunazipatia shule zetu kila mwaka nyenzo mpya kwa ajili ya Madarasa yao ya Casa na mafunzo ya kitaalam kwa Watanzania wanaofundisha katika shule hizi. Aidha, TOBFC inatekeleza mpango wa afya kwa watoto waliosajiliwa shuleni ikiwa ni pamoja na unawaji mikono, dawa za minyoo na kampeni za kuzuia mapunye.
Mpango wetu wa Montessori ni wa kipekee kwani unashirikiana na kila jamii ili kukuza uwekezaji na usaidizi wa jamii, na kuhakikisha mafanikio yake. Ili kuwa na shule iliyojengwa katika jamii yao, viongozi wa jamii lazima wafike TOBFC na kutuma ombi la mpango wa Montessori. Jamii lazima itoe muundo wa awali na/au ardhi ambapo TOBFC inaweza kujenga shule. Hilo likishaanzishwa, jamii inawajibika kuweka pamoja kamati ya shule kutoka kwa washiriki. Kamati hiyo inamchagua mwalimu na kuamua ni mchango gani wa jamii kwa ajili ya mshahara wa mwalimu (1000-3000TSH/kwa kila familia). Aidha, jamii huchangia katika ujenzi wa shule, kama vile kushiriki katika ujenzi au kufanya kazi ili kutoa vifaa vya ujenzi. TOBFC inagharamia gharama zingine zote za ziada zinazohusiana na shule, ikijumuisha posho kwa mwalimu, fanicha na vifaa vya kujifunzia vya Madarasa ya Casa.
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Why TOBFC Started the Better Fuel Choices Program
Many households, especially those led by vulnerable women, continue to use wood fuels to prepare meals because they cannot afford to purchase cooking stoves and tanks that use cleaner fuels. Other families have found the lack of access to gas tanks prevents them from switching from wood to gas cooking. Our community research reveals that a family of four uses the equivalent of 20 large trees per year for cooking.
Collecting and cooking with wood fuel contributes to environmental degradation but also has many other negative impacts on women’s health, ability to work and food security. Vulnerable women spend hours every week securing firewood or charcoal. Women must then spend more hours preparing wood fires and cooking – time that could be used instead for engaging in business or agricultural activities. Long cooking times and access to wood fuel make it difficult for mothers to provide breakfast for students before they go to school, resulting in many missed meals and impacting educational success.
Our Mobile Medical Clinic connects to hundreds of women every year suffering from pulmonary diseases. Burning wood and charcoal creates particle pollution and releases toxic air pollutants. Fine particles can trigger heart attacks, stroke, irregular heart rhythms, and heart failure. Our Mobile Medical Clinic also serves many women with eye issues, including acute conjunctivitis and cataracts linked to cooking with wood. The types of chronic conditions that women experience from cooking with wood and charcoal convinced our staff that TOBFC needed to start an education program for all women and communities on the benefits of cooking with gas and to help vulnerable women switch.
Through our other Community Care programs, TOBFC identifies female-headed households that are using firewood and charcoal for cooking and connects them to the Better Fuel Choices program. These vulnerable women are supplied with a new gas cooking stove and gas tank and trained how to safely use the stove. Women using these new stoves report better health and many also find it more affordable, once the capital cost of the stove is overcome.​
Some families in rural communities can afford the purchase of a gas cooking stove, but the lack of stores to refill gas tanks can be a barrier to purchasing new stoves. To improve access to gas tank refills, TOBFC now operates two Kutunza Gas Stores that are centrally located for a number of villages.
Once vulnerable women are provided with gas stoves and tanks through the Kutunza Gas Store program and there is easier access to tanks for rural communities, gas cooking is sustainable for almost all families. It is estimated that shifting a total of 2,000 households to gas will save approximately 40,000 trees per year.
Better Fuel Choices directly addresses a key environmental issue and through that action helps to tackle complex community challenges. This Climate Care program also contributes to supporting gender equity, women’s health, and financial and food security for families.
