After months of emails and lots of planning, we were all so excited to finally return to Faraja School in person. We immediately recognized the administrative building from our trip six years ago. But the best was yet to come. Our family of three, Geoffrey, Kimberly and Oliver (age 16) first learned about Faraja School when Don and Joann Tolmie retired in Charlotte, North Carolina. While getting to know the Tolmies, we also got to know about Faraja. When our family embarked on a trip to Tanzania in 2018, Joann helped us arrange a visit to campus, and we have been fans ever since. As our family made plans for a return trip to Faraja in July 2024, we organized duffle bags full of children’s books, school supplies, and a few sweet treats for the students.
Our visit happened to fall on a Sunday, so we were thrilled to join in the church service on campus. The choir was incredible and it was especially memorable to hear from the students who will graduate this fall and make their way out into the world. Lots of sweet friends were made in the pews, including a group of six young boys who made us laugh with their high energy! We had many ambassadors happy to escort us to lunch (and practice their English), and we were impressed to see the community effort to help every student with their wheelchairs, crutches and walkers. Before lunch, we had the opportunity to try out the new adaptive playground. Wow, what an exciting addition to the campus! Following lunch in the new dining hall, another incredible addition since our last visit, we enjoyed a full campus tour. The dormitories have new tile and paint … wow! New classrooms are almost complete … wow! The crops are growing … watermelon, sweet potatoes, corn … wow!
Oliver, Geoffrey, and Kimberly Mize
The Mize Family Return to Faraja – Trip Report
Lunch time in the new dining hall
Faraja staff—Fadhili, Innocent and Tumsifu—outside new staff quarters
We loved meeting the teachers, visiting the health center, and most of all, spending time with the students. As we left, we promised to come back … and we promised to spread the word about Faraja School.
Asante sana, Faraja!
The Mize Family
Safari, anyone?
Most, if not all, tourists to Tanzania spend many days visiting the country’s magnificent national parks. For Faraja students, a day trip to Tarangire National Park means seeing their own country’s treasures up-close-and personal, beyond the coloring books and postcards. It is, after all, their own “back yard.” School administrator Tumsifu Munuo secured the permits and government approval to bring children with special needs to the park, and Faraja students and chaperones were up at 3 am to board the bus.
When you support Faraja, the activities that children dream about become reality. They will not soon forget this experience!
Safari lunch break at Tarangire National Park
Welcome New Sponsors!
Chuck and Sallie Wolf – Sponsoring Sinati
Chuck and Sallie Wolf were introduced to Faraja by Jeryl Levin, the Foundation’s executive director. Chuck practiced employment law for 41 years at Chicago-based Vedder Price. He retired in 2016, and continues to teach law at his alma mater, University of Chicago, and run his family philanthropy—the Walter Mander Foundation—with a focus on sustainable food and farming. Sallie is an artist and writer, using her training in anthropology to translate her observations into paintings, books, and installations. Her Moon Project is a collaboration of art, science and music. Chuck and Sallie met as undergraduates at Brown University. They love to travel and have visited Tanzania and more than 55 other countries—the highlights of which are all recorded in Sallie’s journals. When not exploring the world or visiting grandchildren on both coasts, they call Oak Park, IL their home.
Sinati, Kindergarten, was born into the Maasai tribe in Kichangare, in the Kilimanjaro region. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 1, and has a lower limb disability that is being treated at Faraja. Her father, Lamnyaki, is a breeder of over 600 cows, which enables him to care for his family and for Sinati’s mother, Maria, to stay home and care for the children.
Sinati’s mother and father, Lamnyaki and Maria, outside their home
Julie Simpson – Sponsoring Naomi
Julie was introduced to Faraja last April, when professionally facilitating the Foundation’s 2024 board retreat held just outside Chicago. Julie has served as a nonprofit and philanthropic executive for decades, and currently supports funders and nonprofits looking to make a meaningful difference in the world. She says that the “extraordinary joy and love embodied in the Faraja students was contagious,” and she was quick to become a sponsor. Julie currently serves as the Chief Advisory Services Officer for Provisio, a national/international consultancy based in Chicago. She lives in Evanston, IL, and has four adult sons and a daughter-in-law, and is most excited to become a first-time grandma this year.
Naomi Class One, has oesteogenesis imperfector, a genetic disorder that causes the bones to easily break. She has been raised by her mother and grandmother; her father ran away after her birth, which is all too common in Tanzania when a child is born with a disability. At Faraja, Naomi will receive surgery, physiotherapy and walking aides.
Naomi’s mother and grandmother outside their home. They farm corn, beans and other crops to provide for their family. There are no support services for Naomi in their village.
Watch for our upcoming newsletters for more sponsor and student stories! Being a sponsor is so rewarding, knowing that you are transforming a child’s life. If you—or anyone you know—is interested in sponsorship, please email Jeryl@farajaschool.org
Introducing Jane John Lyayuka – Faraja Forward
We are thrilled to welcome Jane John Lyayuka to the Faraja Fund Foundation as our lead planner and strategist for Faraja Forward. Jane is a social development expert with over 16 years experience in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects and programs that focus on improving the lives of Tanzania’s most vulnerable children. From 2012-2021, she worked for SOS Children’s Villages in a variety of leadership roles that included planning, reporting, financial. and human resource management.
The Faraja Fund Foundation Board talked to a number of candidates, and Jane’s deep and expansive scope of experience working with vulnerable children and families assured us that she could hit the ground running. She has quickly earned the respect and cooperation of our Tanzanian partners, and plans are imminent to launch Faraja Forward’s first mobile outreach project next month. This program, a collaboration between the Faraja Fund Foundation and Tanzanian NGOs with expertise in health care delivery, fills an enormous gap in outreach to children with special needs, where healthcare and family support systems do not currently exist.
Faraja Forward, a partnership with local Tanzanian NGOs, is helping mothers and their children find hope for the first time.
In closing, we thank YOU—our sponsors, supporters, friends, family, and all those who partner with and encourage us to keep doing what we do. Without you, we simply could not do this work.
You are changing lives, and in the words of Faraja alumna, Highness:
“Thanks to Faraja for giving hope to the hopeless, for making people with disabilities to be able to dream again.”
To our friends in the U.S., we wish you a happy and safe Labor Day holiday!
Disability is NOT Inability!