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Aid Tanzania, or "Kiretono Resource Organisation" works with the Maasai pastoralist community living in and around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, aiming to create a more secure and stable life.
This is achieved by promoting education, social enterprise and health and well-being. Aid Tanzania is the US sister and funding arm of the Kirentono Resource Organistion, a registered NGO in Tanzania. Kirentono runs 3 main programmes:
- Residential Enrichment Programme (REP) – a 3 year residential programmes for girls aged 11-16 years which aims to keep girls in school and help them transition from primary to secondary school. This provides a safe haven for the girls while they complete their schooling, providing access to wider educational and post-educational opportunities.
- Women’s Enterprise Programme (WEP) – helping pastoralist women gain marketable skills and earn income through producing and selling handicrafts.
- Safe Drinking Water – distributing ceramic water filters to pastoralist families and providing access to health screening.
US born, Tina Irmakesen and her husband Wantay Irmakesen, who is local to the Ngorongoro region, founded Aid Tanzania in 2007. For a while they fundraised to sponsor children through secondary school but they realised that these children needed more support, many of whom were walking long distances to school across a landscape inhabited by wild and dangerous animals. It is a remote region which makes attracting good, skilled teachers difficult.
Their residential programme allows the girls to access better resources and focus on their education. Future plans include extending this to boys too.
To find out more about Aid Tanzania / Kirento Resource Organisation, see their website: kiretono.org
