TEMBO (Tanzania and Education Micro-Business Opportunity) is a registered Canadian charity that empowers our community-based partners to deliver programmes that provide fair and equitable access to education and economic opportunity in Longido District, Tanzania.
Our Vision
We envision a world where the girls and women of Longido District, Tanzania have equal access to education and economic opportunities.
Northern Tanzania is home to some of the country’s poorest people. The World Bank ranks Tanzania as “128th out of 157 countries in the 2018 World Bank Human Capital Project with a low Human Capital Index (HCI) score of 0.4” with poverty “most pervasive in Longido in the Arusha Region to the north”.
Living under such extreme poverty, families cannot afford to send their children to school and girls are married early, often at age 13, and have no chance of pursuing secondary education. Women have limited opportunities to provide for their families. The area of Longido District experiences serious drought that causes undue hardship for the Maasai as they work to sustain their cattle, the predominant source of income in a pastoralist society.
TEMBO Canada works to address these issues through a sponsorship program for girls, a women’s microfinance loan program and a goat project, and informal education initiatives coordinated by staff at the Longido District Learning Centre.
TEMBO (Canada) received official recognition as a registered Canadian charity.
Charitable donations are used to support 5 girls in secondary school. Today, more than 470 girls have been sponsored for secondary school.
The first micro-finance loans are established as Chicken Group 1 and Chicken Group 2.
Twenty women received a small loan that helped them to start a small business. Today, the program has impacted more than 250 women in Longido District.
TEMBO Guesthouse was officially opened to guests from Tanzania and abroad.
Today, the 7-room facility, now known as the TEMBO Inn, provides guests with a comfortable place to stay while visiting the Longido region. Some guests opt to climb Mt. Longido while others participate in local business activities.
100% of the proceeds from the TEMBO Inn go to support the work of TEMBO (Tanzania).
TEMBO recognized that girls needed more than school fees to be successful in school and launched the TEMBO English Camp (TEC).
The TEC program has grown from 33 girls in 2010 to more than 115 girls in 2021. This three-week program provides the girls with critical academic support during the school year between Term 1 and Term 2.
TEMBO launched PASS (Primary and Secondary Success), a 10-week program for young adolescent girls.
In 2013, 42 girls from 6 schools attend PASS prior to starting secondary school. Today, more than 50 girls from 12 primary schools attend the academic support program that helps develop the skills and confidence necessary for success at secondary school.
In February 2016, Learning in Longido hosted the official opening of the Longido District Learning Centre.
Today, children and adults enjoy the many programs offered at the Learning Centre including a pre-school program, after-school programs, independent study, a tailoring program for Maasai women and an outreach literacy program.
TEMBO Girls’ Hostel officially opened in June 2019.
The 14-room hostel provides young adolescent girls with a safe place to live, sleep and study while attending TEC and PASS, and/or during the school year.
TEMBO provides critical support to women and girls during the global pandemic.
When schools were closed in Tanzania, TEMBO provided the girls with educational resources (lessons, books) to help them stay on top of their studies. Families in difficult situations received food packages to help meet basic needs.
Women in the outreach programs received soap and education to help them stay safe and keep their families healthy.
TEMBO supports NEW Pre-Form 1 program for adolescent students.
Learning in Longido developed new program for graduates of primary school to help them transition to secondary school. More than 60 students participated in the program with support from local teachers.
Girl Power Growing by Leaps and Bounds
TEMBO reaches significant milestone with more than 500 girls sponsored for secondary school since 2007. Now, that’s a whole lot of girl power!
Celebrating 20 years as a Registered Canadian Charitable Organization
In January 2024, members of the TEMBO Board spent time in Longido visiting the programs. meeting with staff and hearing from the women and girls.
“If [they] were to tell you all the changes that TEMBO has made in their lives,
you will be there until after the sun sets!”.