babies & toddlers
Cradle of Love Baby Home
The Cradle of Love Baby Home is a children’s home founded in 2004, which exclusively cares for babies and toddlers aged 0 – 3 years. Around 30 children are currently being looked after in the children’s home. Most of the children living there were either abandoned by their biological family or lost their mothers due to complications during childbirth.
Cradle of Love is a temporary place to stay for the kids. The aim of the children’s home is to either reunite the children with living family members or to find responsible adoptive families for those children who don’t have family members. The children are divided into a total of three age groups, the nursery (0-6 months), the crawlers (6-12 months) and the toddlers (1-3 years). Volunteers can help in all groups, usually specializing in one group and spending a lot of time there. The main tasks of volunteers include helping with the care of babies and toddlers as well as meaningful and age-appropriate play activities. Please note that the Cradle of Love is the only one of our projects where volunteers work in shifts. These include day and night shifts. Working at Cradle of Love is only possible in part-time in combination with a second project and night- / weekend shifts are mandatory for all volunteers to support the nannies in the best possible way.
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.
Gily's Children Foundation
Gily’s Daycare is a kindergarten / preschool founded in 2019 for children aged 9 months to 6 years. The aim of the facility is to offer age-appropriate care for children who live in difficult economic and personal circumstances. The parents or guardians of the children do not pay any monthly contribution to the facility. To ensure childcare and meals the center is supported by international sponsors. While their children are being looked after, parents have the opportunity to work or study. There are no public childcare facilities in Tanzania for children under the age of 4. Many parents are therefore forced to leave their children alone or with neighbors while they are working or trying to find work. In the worst case, children run the risk of being brought to orphanages by their desperate families for lack of other perspectives, which the family hopes will improve the future prospects for the children. However, such a separation should be avoided at all costs, since it can result in long-term damage for the children such as attachment and anxiety issues. The Gily’s Foundation consists of two Centers, one for the little ones and one for the Pre-school children.