Living in Moshi, Tanzania with his grandparents, Zawadi is a ten-year-old boy who not only misses his parents but has also missed out on years of his education. His grandfather, who is blind and elderly, struggles to provide for the family due to lack of income. Zawadi has never had the opportunity to attend school…
Author: Robin Chenoweth
Victor
After being abandoned by his mother, six-year-old, Victor, and his brother were taken in by their aunt, living in a difficult economic situation because both his father and aunt struggled with unemployment. Despite these hardships, Victor remains hopeful and resilient. He is a bright young boy with a vibrant personality. He loves the color yellow…
Vaileth
Seven-year-old Vaileth is from the Shinyanga region of Tanzania, belonging to the Sukuma tribe. She lives with her parents and older sister Sabina in a rural household that depends on farming and goat-keeping, which is a common livelihood for families in her area. Despite facing challenging economic circumstances, Vaileth is known for her bright personality…
Sophia
Sophia, an eight-year-old girl, calls Musoma home – a vibrant city located on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania’s Mara region. As an only child, she experiences a unique family dynamic in this lakeside town known for its rich cultural heritage and scenic landscapes. Her world is painted in yellow, her favorite color,…
Joseph L.
Joseph is a six-year-old boy from Arusha, Tanzania, who lives with his mother in challenging economic circumstances. Growing up in a region where nearly 68% of people in rural areas live below $3.10 per day, Joseph and his mother navigate life’s difficulties with resilience. His mother works as a small entrepreneur, selling clothes to support…
Kelvin
Joining Camp Joshua in April 2022, ten-year-old Kelvin lives in Arusha with his family, which includes one sister named Clara and a younger brother. His world is characterized by a love for football (soccer), a sport deeply ingrained in Tanzanian culture. Kelvin’s aspirations to become a soldier reflect the dreams of many young Tanzanians seeking…
Kurwa
Kurwa is an eight-year-old boy from the Shinyanga region of Tanzania. Born into a Sukuma family, Kurwa holds a special place in his community as a twin. In Sukuma culture, twins are believed to have divine connections and are treated with great respect and care. Kurwa arrived at Camp Joshua in January 2024 along with…
Lilian
A young girl from Arusha navigates childhood in challenging economic circumstances. Seven-year-old Lilian lives with her mother in a city marked by significant poverty, where many families struggle to meet basic needs. Lilian’s world is bright with her love for dancing and her favorite color pink. She dreams of becoming a teacher, an aspiration that…
Maria
Maria’s living environment is challenging, with some days where the family can only manage a single meal. An eleven-year-old girl from Shinyanga, she lives with her grandmother after being abandoned by her mother, who left to marry another man. Despite these difficult circumstances, Maria maintains a dream of becoming a teacher. Her favorite food is…
Maureen V.
From Arusha, Maureen and her younger brother moved in with their grandmother after their parents divorced. Eleven-year-old Maureen and her brother’s living environment was adequate, although the impact of her parents’ separation was felt in their daily lives. Her mother left to start a new life, and the children have little knowledge of their father….
Michael
Seven-year-old Michael is from the Sukuma tribe and embodies the vibrant spirit of his community in northwestern Tanzania. Arriving at Camp Joshua in 2023 from Shinyanga, a region known for its rich cultural heritage and significant Sukuma population, he is currently in pre-unit class. Although he once dreamed of becoming an engineer, he now dreams…
Mushrif
Navigating his childhood in challenging economic circumstances, six-year-old Mushrif lives with his mother and grandmother in a poor household, sharing his home with two siblings, one of whom studies at Camp Joshua. Mushrif’s world is bright with his love for smiling and his dreams of becoming a football (soccer)er. His favorite color is purple and…
Faustin
Faustin is a nine-year-old child from Musoma, a city located on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Growing up in a family that has experienced loss with the passing of his father, Faustin lives with his siblings Annatazia and Vedastus at Camp Joshua. Despite the challenges, Faustin finds joy in simple pleasures: his…
Antony
Now at Camp Joshua for over a year, eight-year-old Antony is the baby of his family with two older sisters and an older brother. He came to Camp Joshua from Shinyanga and would like to study to be a nurse one day. Like most of our kids, he loves football (Soccer) and chips (french fries).
Adam
Eleven-year-old, Adam Hamisi loves smiling and has lots to smile about. He has three brothers and one sister and came to Camp Joshua in 2024 because he would like to be a doctor one day. LOHADA has seen several of its past children focus on medical professions and offers internships at its own Golden Grace…
Wema
Wema is an 11-year-old Maasai girl from Arusha, Tanzania, living in challenging circumstances typical of many children in her community. She resides with her mother and brother Shedrack, having lost her father. Like many Maasai children, Wema has never attended school due to the significant barriers facing her community. The Maasai region faces substantial educational…
Vedastus (Vedasto)
Vedastus is a 12-year-old boy from Shinyanga, a village in northern Tanzania. Growing up in a bustling region known for its livestock and agricultural activities might explain his love of cows. Many people from his region make their living herding cattle. Vedastus comes from a family with three siblings – two brothers and one sister.His…
Tariq
Tariq is an 11-year-old boy from Arusha, Tanzania, who lives with his mother and stepfather. Despite the challenges in his home life, where his stepfather appears disinterested, Tariq maintains a vibrant and hopeful spirit. He is deeply passionate about futbol and has a remarkable curiosity for science, especially studying the intricate parts of the human…
Sheila
Sheila is a resilient 10-year-old girl from Arusha, Tanzania, who has found a loving home at Camp Joshua Christian School since 2019. Tragically orphaned after losing her mother during childbirth, Sheila has been raised with the support of LOHADA. She lives at the school with her brother and sister, finding stability and hope in her…
Samwel
Samwel is a nine-year-old boy from Shinyanga, a city located in northern Tanzania. Growing up in a family with four siblings, Samwel enjoys an active and engaging childhood. He has a passion for futball (soccer), spending much of his free time playing and developing his skills on the field. In addition to sports, Samwel is…
Sabina
Sabina is a 9-year-old girl from Shinyanga who came to Camp Joshua Christian School in 2019. Growing up in a large family with two brothers and ten sisters, she is part of the vibrant community supported by LOHADA. At Camp Joshua, Sabina enjoys learning and participating in school activities, including playing football in the school…
Ndugulile
Nduguile is an eight-year-old boy from Shinyanga, a rural village in northwestern Tanzania. He lives with his mother, who works as a farmer in a challenging agricultural environment. Their family has faced significant economic hardship, struggling to maintain a stable livelihood through farming. These difficult circumstances have directly impacted Nduguile’s opportunities, particularly in education. Due…
Musa
Musa is an 8-year-old boy living in the slums of Arusha with his family. He has been a student at Camp Joshua since 2019, bringing joy and enthusiasm to his daily life. With one brother and one sister, Musa comes from a close-knit family and enjoys expressing himself through various activities. He has a passion…
Lebahati
Lebahati is a 12-year-old boy from a Maasai village who grew up with a relative after his parents seperated and both lost their jobs. Growing up in a large family with 5 brothers and 6 sisters, Lebahati has learned resilience from an early age. He first came to Camp Joshua in 2019 and is currently…
Karimu
Karimu is a nine-year-old boy from Arusha, Tanzania, who lives with his family, which includes one brother and one sister. He is an enthusiastic young student who dreams of becoming a teacher when he grows up. Football is his favorite sport, and he enjoys playing it with great passion. Karimu has a bright personality and…
Pendael
Pendael, a five-year-old Maasai boy from Arusha lives with his family, which includes his parents and an older sister. Despite being eight years old, he is currently in the baby class, having never previously attended school. This educational journey reflects the challenges many Maasai children face in accessing consistent schooling. His family has been experiencing…
Abdulrazack
Nine-year-old Abdulrazack didn’t have to travel a long distance to find us at Camp Joshua. He’s from the Unga Limited slums in Arusha where he lived with his mom and sister. Life has been difficult for his mother so Abdulrazack lives full time at Camp Joshua now and is surrounded by love. This little guy…
Success Stories
Lohada aims to break the cycle of poverty and provide an education to disadvantaged children from all across Tanzania. Many of our children come from remote villages far from Arusha in which education isn’t always a priority or a reality. Here are just a few of our success stories. Meet some of the wonderful kids…
Ernest
You can’t help but smile when you ask Ernest his favorite activity and he tells you it’s sleeping. With two brothers and three sisters, he probably wasnt getting a lot of it before coming to Camp Joshua. Ernest has some undiagnosed intellectual delays that we are still working on uncovering so that one day we…
Phabian
Phabian is a 14-year-old boy with seven siblings. Like many teenagers his age, he enjoys life’s simple pleasures, finding joy in joking around, dancing, and indulging in his favorite foods like hamburgers and ice cream. An avid movie watcher with a love for reading, Phabian stands out as a curious and engaging young individual. He…
Abriella
Abriella, affectionately known as Abby, is a bright and curious 7-year-old girl living in the Unga Limited area. Despite her young age, Abby is already on a path to a brighter future thanks to her participation in LOHADA’s early childhood education program. Although she has passed the critical period of brain development that occurs before…
Mount Horeb Farm
Southeast of Unga Limited slum, off a country road, Mount Horeb Farm is a peaceful 11-acre plot that is a site for sustainable farming and for learning. LOHADA grows multiple crops on the farm, including maize and beans, which help feed the children at Camp Joshua and Camp Moses. They also grow vegetables such as…
Golden Grace Health Center
After being a dispensary since its founding in 2017, Golden Grace has been approved as a Health Center in June 2023 . The increased services that accompanied this advancement in status included opening a Surgical Theatre, which currently can perform 30 types of operations. Also, Golden Grace is now able to keep inpatients for up…
Hope where there was none
According to UNICEF about 71 percent of Tanzanian children live in absolute poverty. More than 73 percent have been physically abused. LOHADA children have suffered the most extreme indigence — theirs are the worst-case scenarios. About a third have been orphaned or lost one parent, often to HIV-AIDS. Others have been abandoned to the streets…