About Faraja
The Faraja Primary School for Children with Physical Disabilities is a residential academic and health community for children who are physically disabled. It is the only school of its kind in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. It serves approximately 100 children in grades K-7.
Faraja students are cognitively able and have many different types of physical disabilities. The most common are cerebral palsy, spina bifida, osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), and limb deformities. Many of these conditions are the result of poor or no prenatal care, difficult home births, or childhood accidents. Most Faraja students come from families without any resources; many are single-family homes headed by woman. Few have ever seen a doctor. Sadly, it is not uncommon for these mothers to be abandoned by their husbands after giving birth to a disabled child. It is also not uncommon for that child to be stigmatized by the community and hidden away.
At Faraja, everything begins with health care. Students are medically assessed and treated at partner hospitals. They receive corrective surgeries and mobility devices including wheelchairs, prosthesis and orthotics. They enjoy proper nutrition, ongoing physical and occupational therapy, clean surroundings and proper hygiene, spiritual care that is respectful of their religion, and recreational activities that promotes good health, boosts confidence and self-esteem, and encourages freedom and individuality.
Faraja’s follows Tanzania’s Primary Education Curriculum. Subject matter generally includes Kiswahili, Mathematics, Science, Geography, Civics, History, English language, vocational subjects, Information and Communication Technology.
Many of our students excel at academics and last year Faraja Class 4 placed #1 in the national exams for the region.
Faraja graduates matriculate to secondary school (4-6 years) followed by vocational training or university. Many sponsors stay in touch with their students long after Faraja. Faraja also has an Alumni Ambassadors Council, through which students maintain regular contact with each other and the school. Many alumni return to Faraja year-after-year to mentor current students.
Our graduates are small business owners, teachers, government employees, accountants, social workers, nurses, and more. Every day they demonstrate to society that “Disability is NOT Inability” and one-by-one change the status quo. Faraja and its community of sponsors pave a student’s journey to a productive, fulfilling and independent life.
Information for Sponsorship
Faraja student sponsors provide a vital lifeline for the students. Their annual sponsorship helps to underwrite the cost of education, health care, and enrichment activities that help our children thrive. Sponsors typically are from the United States, and many span several generations in sponsor families.
Our sponsorship coordinator consults with our head of school in Tanzania, who helps to provide recommendations. After you confirm your sponsorship, we will email you information on your student—name, age, academic grade, personality features, a description of the child’s physical condition and brief family background.
Sponsors write letters in English to their students on average twice a year. These letters are collected either through email or US mail and personally delivered to your student by our staff or one of our volunteers.
Students are very interested in knowing about your life and family. To them, America is a very distant land and the more you share about yourself, the better! They are also learning English and geography, so your correspondence builds your personal relationship and mutual understanding of the world and different people. Sponsor letters are treasured and saved by the students and many display them in their dormitory rooms.
A resounding YES! Faraja students cannot wait to receive sponsor letters and write back to their sponsors. We will mail you your student letters and we can guarantee your joy in receiving and reading them.
If you are planning a trip to Tanzania, perhaps for a safari or a Kilimanjaro climb, we can arrange for you to visit your student at Faraja School, provided it is not during holiday breaks. Some have even attended Faraja School graduation in September. Everyone says that visiting Faraja School was a pivotal and unforgettable event in their lives, and if your circumstances enable you travel to Tanzania, we can advise you on travel details.
$1500 annually. The foundation’s actual cost per student is $3,000 annually and a group of generous donors, including our board members, help us bridge the gap between actual costs.
Yes. Sponsorship is a donation and all donations to Faraja are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Donors are provided with a tax receipt when their gift is received.
- You can mail your gift to Faraja Fund Foundation, 1509 Waukegan Rd, #1171, Glenview, IL 60025
- You can make an online gift through our web site, where you can make a one-time payment or set up monthly payments.
- You can give through your Donor Advised Fund either through Electronic Fund Transfer or U.S mail.
- You can transfer stocks or securities by contacting jeryl@farajaschool.org.
The Faraja Story
As we neared Faraja’s 20th anniversary, we began to examine what else could be done to help more children with special needs in rural Tanzania. How could we expand the dream, fueled by the belief that all children deserve the opportunity for full and productive lives, regardless of their limitations? Armed with two decades of knowledge, experience and relationships, we sought to expand beyond Faraja Primary School, to move forward from serving hundreds of children with special needs to serving thousands. This new mission is called Faraja Forward.
Faraja Primary School
Faraja Primary School was founded in 2000 after Virginians Don and Joann Tolmie visited Tanzania and witnessed the terrible situation confronting children with special needs. Tanzania is a relatively new republic. Child protection acts, human rights and inclusive education policies are just beginning to take root.
Don and Joann wanted to help.
For the socially conscious and compassionate couple in their seventies, it was an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the lives of others—to “live beyond themselves.” Working with their pastor, Wayne Westermann, they approached the Lutheran Diocese in Kilimanjaro, which offered to donate 35 acres of land on which the school would be erected.
Joann and Don returned to the United States, raised the first $300,000 to build the facility, and a year later Faraja School opened its doors to serve one of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in the country: children with physical disabilities. Faraja students come from the poorest of the poor.
“The Miracle by the Mountain”
Faraja School is known as “The Miracle by the Mountain”. It is the only residential school in Kilimanjaro serving children with physical disabilities. It has been recognized by the government of Tanzania and visited and studied by educators internationally as a model for special education in east Africa.
In 2018 Joann and Don received the esteemed Points of Light award, honoring individuals who “demonstrate the transformative power of service and who are driving significant and sustained impact through their everyday actions and words…”
To read more about Don and Joann and The Faraja Primary School, see:
https://www.ncfgiving.com/stories/a-family-legacy-at-the-foot-of-mount-kilimanjaro/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKh-KFGwhII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBvgeU1xnFI
https://www.farajaschool.org/the-faraja-fund-foundation/
Questions?
Contact Jeryl Levin, Executive Director at Jeryl@farajaschool.org or 847-224-6360