The Victoria Programme
Designed and continuously adjusted to care for orphaned children
In response to the problems of high mortality, due to malnutrition and extreme poverty, PARTAGE TANZANIA has developed a comprehensive set of measures to help the many orphans left adrift in rural villages. The humanitarian objectives of these measures are called by PARTAGE TANZANIA the VICTORIA PROGRAMME. The specificity of this program consists in accompanying the children within their community, clan or extended family. An orphan removed from his community and placed in an orphanage, would become an orphan again the day he leaves the institution. The VICTORIA PROGRAMME aims to avoid this.
TANZANIE
Most African cultures have traditional mechanisms for caring for their orphans. These mechanisms have been undermined by the increase in young adult mortality during the AIDS years but have not yet disappeared. Helping them financially while valuing human resources is the best alternative to orphanage. Anything that strengthens the extended family and the village community also strengthens the individual child. In order to provide social and medical services in real time, the VICTORIA PROGRAMME deploys its human resources in 21 villages. A team of 145 Tanzanians (50% of whom are women), composed of social workers, agronomists, teachers, nurses, foster mothers, family assistants, etc., operates permanently at the village level. It also includes several former sponsored children who have become adults.
The VICTORIA PROGRAMME is supported by sponsors and donors from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. A sponsorship is a medium or long-term commitment. Small, large or very significant donations from individuals, companies or foundations strengthen specific projects and activities. PARTAGE TANZANIE connects a sponsor with a child (and his family), or with a project, and ensures that the funds benefit exclusively orphans and needy children.
Evolution of the aid provided by Partage Tanzania
In 33 years of support from PARTAGE TANZANIE, improvements in health, nutrition and housing are significant. 19,000 deprived children have had access to education, social protection and have acquired full autonomy to start their adult lives. The challenges have evolved over time. Initially, most resources were directed towards the fight against hunger, the supply of drinking water, the prevention of malaria and the construction of decent housing. Now that these basic needs are met and maintained, the priority has shifted to education: PARTAGE TANZANIE invests in key equipment aimed at compensating for the poor level of public schools but also at offering a future to less intellectually gifted children (who would otherwise be condemned to remain on the margins for the rest of their lives). Montessori nursery schools, Montessori teachers' college, school farms, vocational training centres, carpentry workshops... Such investments are expensive and their financing is a constant challenge. But they are the trophy that PARTAGE TANZANIE has been fighting for since its creation. The motto of the VICTORIA PROGRAMME states:
THE VICTORIA PROGRAM protects its children against the hazards of tomorrow, maintains and protects their property, while leading them, year after year, towards a responsible and independent adult life.
The Kagera region lacks industries but benefits from a climate that is favorable to agriculture all year round. Among the orphans of PARTAGE TANZANIE, many have inherited a plot of land from their farming parents. This is a valuable asset for food security today and even more so tomorrow when life in the city will become unbearable. For now, with a population growth of 33% over the last ten years, the challenge increasingly lies in the capacity of this rural region to change and adapt. It is a question of strengthening its economic capacities to cope with the migratory flow from other regions to Kagera (as a result of climate change) and to avoid departures from Kagera to other regions, due to lack of employment opportunities.
The VICTORIA PROGRAM protects its children against the hazards of tomorrow, maintains and protects their property, while leading them, year after year, towards a responsible and independent adult life. With PARTAGE TANZANIE you can help protect these children in a systematic, sustainable and transparent way.
