Eight-year-old Joshua might think that his school is his very own, because it’s named Camp Joshua School. But he also knows the school has been helping kids like him before he was born. A solid education is critical to help children in poverty to succeed. So he is learning English, Swahili, science and health, math…
Author: Robin Chenoweth
Abriella has been sponsored!
Little Abby is only 3, but that’s not too soon to help her learn and thrive. Studies show that the greatest brain development happens before age 5, so we at LOHADA are working hard to lay the foundation for learning early. Abby lives in the Unga Limited area adjacent to the school, and so after…
Sheilla
Sheilla has been sponsored! Sheilla’s mother died when she was only one week old, probably from complications of childbirth. Never knowing the support of a mother, she was nonetheless raised by relatives until they became too poor to feed her. Coming to LOHADA means she not only is fed, but gets the opportunity to get…
Lebahati
Lebahati is from a Maasai village outside of Arusha. His name means “lucky boy.” You can tell from his smile that Lebahati feels lucky to be at LOHADA. The 10-year-old might is one of 12 children. His parents are separated and until he came to LOHADA he was raised by a relative. He loves learning…
Beatrice
Little Beatrice, who is five, likes frogs. And she’s pretty handy to have around Camp Joshua, because she also really likes to clean things. How great is that? When Bea is not helping sweep and pick up the puzzles, she’s learning all kinds of things: The alphabet, numbers, how to speak English and cooperate with…
David
David is six years old and from the Shinyanga Region in western Tanzania. He is one of five children, which makes it hard for his family of subsistence farmers to care for him and pay fees associated with school. So his brother and sister also live at Camp Joshua with him. This allows them to…
Dina
Dina is a kindergarten student who lives in the Unga Limited slum with her single mom, two brothers and one sister. Having a nearby school to attend, and receiving sponsorship, gives her a better chance than attending crowded nearby public schools. She gets more individual attention and doesn’t have to pay fees for desks, uniforms…
Yunis
Six-year-old Yunis loves to read books. The Camp Joshua library is like a miracle to her. Picture books, early readers, toys to help children sound out words. Almost no kid in Arusha has an opportunity to see books like these, unless they are LOHADA kids. And in the Camp Joshua library, Yunis can sprawl out…
Patrick
Patrick has been sponsored! This kid likes to run. On the soccer field. Around the Camp Joshua playground. Down the road. Maybe he likes to run because he’s pretending to fly. Because Patrick, who is 6, wants to be a pilot. He’s seen planes skate across the sky above the school. One day, if he…
Sabina
Sabina, who is five, has been with LOHADA since she was three. She is shy, but warms up to you when she gets to know you. Sabina is among a group of young children who receives pre-school education at Camp Joshua School. Her family is so large and poor that she needed the extra boost…
Gertruda
Gertruda has been sponsored! Gertruda, 4, is a day schooler who lives in the Unga Limited slum with her brother Godbless and her sister Joyce. Each day, she walks to school, where she enjoys learning and swinging on the playground. Her ideal gift, she says, would be biscuits — the cookie type. Also pretty great…
Erik
Erik has been sponsored! Erik might only be 4, but he’s proud of his backpack, which happens to be black, his favorite color. Coming to school is a new for him, but he already likes health class and playing soccer during recess. He says he’s too young to know what he wants to be when…
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 Hospital
GOLDEN GRACE HOSPITAL opened in January 2017 in Shinyanga, a city in western Tanzania near the home of many LOHADA children. The ministry provides low-cost health care to people in the community, including obstetrics, vaccinations, malaria treatment, x-rays and dispensing of drugs. The hospital charges a nominal fee, about 25 cents, for an office visit and a small fee for…
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…
Help us respond to COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic strikes East Africa, hunger is as urgent a need as treating the virus. LOHADA children sheltered in place with either their extended families or other families until August, when school resumed. Many of their families in Shinyanga, in western Tanzania, where also hit with devastating floods. LOHADA has worked for months…