singlemotherproject

MATUMAINI CENTRE FOR TEENAGE MOTHERS AND YOUNG GIRLS
Iringa, Tanzania.

The Centre helps and assists young girls and teenage mothers to become economically self reliant, as an alternative to
these girls working as domestic helpers, bar girls and hostesses in guest houses, or engaging in commercial sex where
young girls are preferrerd because of the conviction that they are free from HIV/AIDS infection.

The centre currently has 46 teenage mothers and young girls attending and studying for a period of two years, and
generally recruiting 20 teenage mothers and young girls every year.

The director Mrs. Helen Nkunda and her immediate staff spent time with us at their premises resulting in our leaving with
a very clear and powerful impression of the very vital and urgent work that is being done under the leadership of a very
dedicated, sincere and impressionable director who inspires everyone in her presence from day to day despite the
hardships they all endure from trying to assist everyone with very little money and so few resources.

That this organization’s mission and daily activities are all designed to both educate and train these single young mothers
and teenage girls with schooling as well as learning domestic and vocational / handicraft skills, both to allow them, their
children and the staff to earn their daily shelter and basic necessities while they are at the centre.

After this immediate priority of shelter, sustenance, medical care coupled to education and training, comes the task of
equipping these girls to have a sufficient level of education and training to equip them to earn a living for themselves and
their child after they leave the centre. Therefore they engage in activities at the centre designed to do this such as the
holding of cookery, knitting, weaving, hand looming & basic typing & computer skills. The objective of Zahra African
Shelters (ZAS) is to either identify and allow an existing opportunity which is struggling or faltering, to prosper through
funding and assistance, or identify a new activity as a “start –up”, both with the objectives of making a positive and
immediate impact on the welfare of the participants and recipients.

The dignity, courage and resolve of the director Helen and her staff to “press on, regardless”, is very much in evidence,
and our response is to raise sufficient money to make up the shortfall they require to do just this, on a month to month
basis.

The requirement to make up this shortfall & even slightly exceed it so important as this is a centre which CAN & DOES
help itself, & one where this additional funding must be made continually to allow purchasing of items such as threads and
consumables for the weaving, sewing and hand looming machines they have.

These are used to make the traditional & wonderful, colourful and practical handcrafts which they display at their centre.

In addition the centre urgently require some capital items, such as bicycles to allow the staff to access the centre daily
from their homes, as at the moment circumstances dictate that they do this on foot as they cannot even afford the bus
fares.

The centre has a board of trustees, is a registered NGO, and has its premises at Uhuru Road in the Saba Saba Ground
in Iringa

The Centre is an exciting and worthwhile shopping experience for visitors and tourist to Iringa to visit and buy to take
home overseas.

Some examples are: shawls or wraps, shirts and blouses, handbags and purses, table mats, dresses, figurines and
African animal “cuddly toys”.