TENG’ENA Community Development Organization was started on the 10th of February 2022 with 8 members. We are now 28 in the organization. We are an educational outreach program in our community, the Maasai tribe in Tanzania, with our top goals being to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.
Our challenges are- we need materials like pens, printer, computer, Manilasheet, markers, ram papers and we need transportation- a car or motorcycle that would help us to move from one place to another and reach many women in a short time. We also supply food and clothing on our trips to the villages and also equipment for soap making
We received our Non Governmental Organization recognition as of 19 May 2022 and we will soon have a website up. In the meantime we are accepting donations to further our work through this page. Please message us here for information on how to contribute. We document everything we receive and you can contribute for a specific item and we will show you the result once we purchase it. We have purchased office supplies and paid for our government registration so far and we have some left over for the printer which is our next step.
We have found that shipping items can be very expensive but we do also accept packages with supplies for the children and the things we need for our outreach.
The following is information about our group and our goals, and what we have done so far:
Our organization has developed a strategy to address FGM in the country. The strategy involves running campaigns on the health consequences of FGM for girls and women, recruitment of change agents from within the communities and the enforcement of legal mechanisms. Though FGM rates in our district have been reduced to 5%, the fight to abolish the practice continues.
Men in the community have also joined the fight to end FGM. Saruni Saitoti, a traditional leader in the Losimingori village of Tanzania, is one example. As a father of three daughters, Saruni works with other male leaders to end the practice and find “alternative rites of passage.” After getting educaton from us he and others are now recognizing that FGM impacts the most impoverished people, and impacts education by keeping girls out of school due to recovery time and health complications that may ensue.
A lack of education keeps women in poverty, economically impacting Tanzania as a whole. Due to individual efforts and efforts from various organizations 3 ritual leaders have stopped FGM practices in Losimingori village. Furthermore, more than 10 girls between 9 and 19 were protected from FGM practices through campaigns and programs.
Efforts to decrease female genital mutilation in our district show successful. Although the fight continues, there is much promise that the practice may be eliminated by 2030.
In our community, the Maasai tribe, they also practice early marriage for girls aged 9 -19, after they receive circumcision. Traditionally it is believed that after circumcision a girl is now a woman regardless or her age- she can be married and would then be supposed to leave her home to live in the household of her husband.
Our organization gives education to the community and to girls directly about the effects of early marriage. One of our current campaigns states to “Stop Early Marriage to Achieve Your Goals”. We travel to individual villages to gather people and teach them the effects of early marriage and FGM.
We also teach entrepreneurship, for example making soaps, jewelry, and petroleum jelly, and keeping chickens to improve the standard of life.
And we educate about environmental conservation.
We want people to stop cutting of trees (deforestation) and practice planting of trees- so far we have planted about 300 trees at Orkeswa village.
We teach about recycling plastic bottles and also educate to use some alternative sources energy like solar energy this reduce cutting of trees for being used as firewood.
[Edited to add- this post is the words of Leah Lazaro, one of the original founders of this organization- but as her friend I had to post it because with no computer and an older model phone the length was too much. I am just here temporarily helping get this page off the ground as Leah is a good friend and very successful host from my womens traveling group. I can’t wait for them to get the basic equipment they need to continue and expand their work! So far they travelled to one village, renting a car to get there, and they were able to completely end FGM practice which was happening to every girl starting at age 9 and up. Leah and her husband Mois are great people and I’m glad I can help in this small way. After they get this equipment I am going to remove all this. A laptop, the supplies for handouts and signs, a printer, copy paper, and a car or motorcycle to reach the villages -Eva]