TEACH: Vocational Training

Tanzania requires students to pass a rigorous national examination at the end of secondary school in order to continue on to higher education. But only about 25 percent of students pass the exam each year. For the 75 percent of students who do not pass the exam, prospects are bleak in an economy with unemployment levels of up to 40 percent.

AfricAid supports several vocational training initiatives that are designed to provide concrete skills training that will give students the opportunity to better compete in the Tanzanian job market or fill gaps in the country’s health care system.

Muungano Vocational Training

Where: The village of Usa River, Tanzania
Founded: 2006 by Village Chairman Joseph Kitia and National Policy Advisor Justin Maeda
Area of Focus: Equipping students with marketable vocational skills that will allow them to compete for scarce jobs upon graduation
Sponsorship: $5,000 outfits a new workshop at Muungano

Since 2006, AfricAid has partnered with Muungano to build classrooms and outfit the school’s first vocational training workshops. Through grants from the Western Union Foundation and the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation, AfricAid has supported the construction of a tailoring workshop and computer lab at Muungano. The tailoring workshop now provides a source of income for the school, as students are learning to sew school uniforms that are then sold in the community – and, at the same time, they are learning a marketable skill for the future! AfricAid has also received grants from The Western Union Foundation and is using the funds to help furnish new workshops at Muungano. For more information about the Western Union Foundation grants, please download this PDF:

Please support vocational training at Muungano through a contribution today! Simply indicate “Muungano” in the notes line of the contribution form.

Meet Josephine, a graduate of Muungano, in the video below!

Assistant Medical Officer (AMO) Training Program

Where: Selian Hospital, Arusha, Tanzania
Founded: 2009
Area of Focus: Training Tanzanian women to become Assistant Medical Officers (AMOs), who will help to address some of the country’s most pressing medical needs.
Sponsorship: $3,000 to train one AMO for the full two-year program

In 2009, Selian Hospital, one of Tanzania’s leading medical facilities, initiated a two-year AMO school at the Hospital’s new clinic in Arusha. Each year, 20 clinical officers begin this two-year program to become Assistant Medical Officers, who can see and treat nearly all routine medical cases. Selian’s goal is for these AMOs to provide medical care in Tanzania’s rural areas, where it is increasingly difficult to attract fully-trained doctors.

AfricAid provided the initial capital needed to develop and initiate the AMO program, and hopes to provide ongoing scholarship support, particularly to women hoping to become AMOs at Selian!

Please support the training of a Tanzanian Assistant Medical Officer through a $3,000 contribution today! Simply indicate “AMO” in the notes line of the contribution form.