ARKAfrica

12/15/2016

We have received an incredible offer from a very generous, dedicated donor to match donations received on this page in order to fix and re-open the One Stop Center. For every 10 people who donate at least $25 from now until December 31, 2016, he will donate $1,000 to the One Stop Center. Your donation today can make a huge impact through this matched contribution effort. In addition, please share this campaign with any friends or family who would like to support the One Stop Center! https://www.gofundme.com/give-the-gift-of-education-with-osc

Over the last 20 years, over 12 million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the African continent. In Tanzania alone, more than 75% of children are unable to attend secondary school, primarily due to financial constraints and qualifying restrictions. The Ark Foundation of Af...

12/02/2016

Today is . Please join ARK and the One Stop Center (OSC) in providing education and support services to AIDS orphans and other children in East Africa. The school is in dire need of new toilets. We have 28 days to finance the project before the school is shut down. Donate today!

Over the last 20 years, over 12 million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the African continent. In Tanzania alone, more than 75% of children are unable to secondary school, primarily due to financial constraints and qualifying restrictions. The One Stop Center (OSC) in Bo...

09/10/2016

Our hearts here at ARK go out to all those affected.

Tanzania earthquake kills 10 and injures 192
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37330418

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake kills at least 11 people and injures 192 more in northern Tanzania, authorities say.

09/08/2016

(3/3) "Back at ARK headquarters in Washington, DC, I have been volunteering since 2007 working on various administrative and capacity building projects. ARK’s unconditional commitment to bettering the lives of East Africa’s most vulnerable children and their families is inspiring. My involvement with ARK has given me great insight into human kindness and connectivity, a better understanding of how education and poverty are intertwined, and the positive impacts of the human spirit. These are the core reasons I continue to support the ARK Foundation of Africa and why I think others should too!"

09/08/2016

(2/3) "Part of the process was to hold meetings with government officials, complete the application and supervise the onsite visits by ministry of education school inspectors. It amazed me to see that the entire community was part of this process which is really hectic. Many people were dedicated to this process and the school became certified in 2008. This project was remarkably rewarding on many levels. Most importantly the relationship building and trust with Boko students, ARK staff, and other volunteers continue today. As I continued to volunteer with ARK in the US, in 2010 another opportunity to return to Tanzania became available. ARK Foundation partnered with the UK based organization Teach a Man to Fish to host the 4 th Annual ‘Education that Pays for Itself’ Conference in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. This annual conference is designed to bring together individuals who work in educational systems in developing countries to highlight ways to implement innovative models for entrepreneurship and financial sustainability. ARK appointed me as the conference coordinator and administrator acting as the liaison between both organizations, working with over 120 delegates in over 30 countries. As the host organization, ARK worked on the project for months in Washington, DC and Tanzania. It was a rewarding, challenging and humbling experience."

09/08/2016

(1/3) Lee's story: "I will be forever grateful that in 2007 women mentors in my life introduced me to Rhoi Wangila and the ARK Foundation of Africa (ARK). My interest in international development work, the importance of supporting vulnerable communities and populations, and my paralegal background were a great foundation for a volunteer partnership. Shortly after I met Rhoi, I found myself on a special assignment to go to Tanzania to Boko village located about an hour and a half’s drive from Dar es Salaam. I worked at the One Stop School which provides excellent, affordable education to some of Tanzania’s most vulnerable children. My primary assignment as a volunteer was to work with the school leadership to work with government so the school could obtain its Secondary School Registration Certificate Number. This certification allows the students to take the government national exams increasing their chances to continue on to high school and college. It also allows the school to become part of the larger Tanzanian school system, giving the students and staff more flexibility to work with both the ARK designed curriculum and the curriculum issued by the Ministry of Education."

08/30/2016

(3/3) "Because ARK supported my education, I have the skills and discipline to succeed. I can sustain myself and assist others to make a difference and to give back to society. My community is benefiting because I support youth, women, and men by giving them the necessary skills on how to start small businesses so that they can improve their standards of living. I empower them, I provide counseling, engage the youth in providing life skills and how to survive I try to be a positive role model to young people in my community. I have taught several women and men for example how to make soap, all kinds of soap; liquid soap, laundry bar soap and hand wash tablet soap, and these products require small capital to start."

08/30/2016

(2/3) "With my mentor, Mr. Erusa Mutyaba, who was a school fees administrator for ARK in Uganda, who often visited me at school to see how I was progressing, giving me parental life skill advise with open decisions. Erisa played a significant part in my life, without professional mentors many orphans and other vulnerable children would not make it in life and many organizations who only pay school fees without recruiting mentors becomes a challenge for such students to thrive in life without parents because grandparents are normally too old and overworked caring for many grandchildren. My grandmother cared for 9 of us from an infant to teenagers and in between. My mentor Erisa kept up with me until I graduated he even showed up on my grandmother’s funeral, he really became part of the larger family, he was dedicated to see me prosper. ARK arranged an internship after I graduated from college in Nairobi, Kenya, they arranged accommodation by another ARK volunteer."

08/30/2016

(1/3) "I come from a small village called Nsangi, about 12 miles along Masaka road, from Kampala the capital city of Uganda. I grew up with my grandmother, who took good care of me and my two siblings together with her other grandchildren. My parents died when I was 9 years old. My grandmother was very old, and she had no business or any other source of income. She was growing crops but for only home consumption. She could only get assistance from relatives and friends. And that’s how she got the food to feed us. She had to struggle to cloth, feed, and buy medicine and school fees for us. Under hardship I completed secondary education I nearly dropped out due to lack school fees, by God’s grace, my grandmother learned about the ARK Foundation and their work with orphans in our village. That is how I was rescued. I know and I am confident that if ARK did not step in to support our family, today, my story would be of hopelessness. In my village, there are other needy people especially elderly widows, AIDS and war orphans, the disabled who have benefited from ARK Foundation."