We got the pleasure of visiting with the third First Lady of Tanzania, the Honorable Mama Anna Mkapa, at her NGO, Equal Opportunity for All Trust Fund (EOTF). She began the fund in 1997 after witnessing the unequal treatment of women in rural areas, despite years of independence. Her organization is a grassroots movement that focuses on giving women in the rural areas proper training and foundational skills to build careers, including farming, textiles, and proper nutrition. A major investment of EOFT is in cashew crops and other related agricultural ventures. This provides ample work for the rural women to learn a valuable skill in a safe and prosperous environment. Economic empowerment of rural women in Tanzania is the keystone principal for EOFT and one of Mama Mkapa’s greatest passions.
Along with economic empowerment, she also focuses on promoting women’s health through maternity wards, ambulance services, and education in women’s health best practices. Her passion for helping women and families extends to the orphanage that she runs through EOFT. Single women in Tanzania are typically disadvantaged by a culture that does not fully foster their independence. As a result, a majority of children in the orphanage come from single mothers that have either passed away or can no longer support their children on their own. Education in Tanzania was not subsidized until very recently, resulting in lower income families not getting the luxury of giving their children an education. Mama Mkapa said that “many children need to go to school”, and this experience is a vital part of improving quality of life for the women of Tanzania and establishing a sustainable infrastructure for women’s economic success. The children in her orphanage and educational program are further supported by the organization through tutoring, transportation to school, and necessary supplies. Despite years of success and progress made by EOFT, a bottleneck of the process continues to be lack of electricity in rural schools. They are currently looking for opportunities to partner with solar power developers to provide affordable electricity to these key areas. The educational branch of EOFT also works closely with the nonprofit organization, Books for Africa. The use this strategic partnership to provide vital educational materials to the children in the program. Through EOFT and Books for Africa, Mama Mkapa aims to teach children how to think, instead of just memorizing information, as has been the historical style of education in Tanzania. The students in this program often score very well on state examinations and even obtain sponsorships from the organization to study in the UK and the US. It was interesting hearing Mama Mkapa speak about her time as First Lady of Tanzania. While she enjoyed the experience, it also forced her to put her career and personal development on hold while she supported her husband. As a highly educated, independent, and successful woman herself, she is very driven and passionate about spreading education and economic empowerment to the women of her country. Posted by: Hannah
1 Comment
FADHILINA HASSAN MDEE
9/24/2021 05:19:37 am
GREAT JOB DONE BY OUR FORMER FIRST LADY, HON. ANNA MKAPA. MY DESIRE IS TO INVEST MORE TIME IN HELPING WEMEN, GIRLS AND CHILDREN IN ACCESSING BETTER EDUCATION, CONDUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, NUTRICIOUS FOOD, BETTER HEALTH SERVICES AND BUSINESS EDUCATION FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. PLEASE CONTACT ME THROUGH PHONE NUMBER +255752922333 OR EMAIL: [email protected]
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