babies & toddlers
Tiny Steps Daycare
The ‘Tiny Steps Daycare’ for babies and children aged 6 months to 3 years in the Lemara district of Arusha is dedicated to caring for the very little ones. With the daycare centre, we want to meet the high demand for free childcare for families affected by poverty and illness in Tanzania. So volunteers who enjoy working with babies and toddlers are in the right place here! The children are looked after from morning to evening in the daycare centre so that their parents/guardians – who are often single parents – can look for work, study or pursue their work without having to worry about their children. In this way, the daycare centre helps families to help themselves by guaranteeing their children’s fundamental right to safety, education and care, thus relieving the burden on the families.
The new daycare centre is run by STEP Africa’s NGO ‘L.I.F.E. Tanzania’ and has places for up to 30 babies and toddlers. Tiny Steps Daycare is all about playing and having fun and not, as in many other kindergartens in Tanzania, about starting lessons at a young age. We aim to promote the children’s development through play and without pressure.
Mwanzo Daycare
Mwanzo Daycare is a small daycare facility close to the big Kilombero market in Arusha City Centre. The daycare is run by Nancy Nashilu our very trusted partner in our Community Outreach Group. She is the founder of three schools in remote villages and now has also taken over Mwanzo Daycare. Nancy is doing an incredible job and we are happy to support her with this new project.
Right now there are 23 kids between 1 and 5 years attending the daycare. Their mothers are working at the market and drop the kids at Mwanzo before going to work. They are not allowed to take their kids with them to the market – a new law that was introduced by the government a few years back, that’s why a daycare like Mwanzo is so important for the families in this area. Rather than leaving the children unattended at home their families know that their children have a save and loving space to stay during the day. The future plan is to more kids a safe place during daytime while the mothers are at the market.