Kasulu foundation
About Kasulu
Kasulu: Position on the Map
Kasulu district is located in the northwest of Tanzania around 100km from Kigoma, the regional capital. Kasulu itself is a small town with no general electricity supply and proper roads. As the rest of the country, Kasulu inhabitants depend heavily on agriculture. People around here farm maize, cassava, bananas, beans, groundnuts and coffee. Farming is basically subsistent. Trading activities take place in a small scale and are largely local. Arts and culture are activities mainly visible during dry season. Kasulu town springs to life during the dry season (May-August) where there are several (religious) youth meetings, festivities and after-harvest parties (possibly because there are no much farming activities going on). Massive dependency on nature and the use of underdeveloped production tools means Kasulu is an impoverished area. Environmental degradation and changes in climates have diversely affected the lives of Kasulu people.
The area around which Kasulu district is located has a beautiful wave of hills and rivers with evergreen forests. The town itself is built on a small stream called Bogwe. There are tall savannah grasses, which are normally dry in the period of in the dry season. Wild fires then erupt from subsistence farmers clearing farms and from local hunters.
The Kasulu area has been for a long time a host to a big number of refugees from warring neighbours (see the map). The influx of refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been a recurrent problem. There are several transit and permanent refugees’ camps around this area. Kasulu town in particular has become a base for large numbers of NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations). All operations related to the running of refugee camps are based from Kasulu and are overseen by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Children and Kasulu Foundation
The dependency on only subsistence farming and lack of structured social and physical infrastructure has made it difficulty for children to create their futures. Due to poor economy most families cannot afford to send children to school and provide proper medical care. Parents would rather have their children stay home or go along to help farming than going to school because they cannot buy the children uniforms, books, pay for transport and medication. Children are thus hit the hardest. The absence of proper sanitation, housing and nutritious foods has been so far the main cause for rampant diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea diseases, malnutrition and pneumonia in this area. There are orphans from HIV/AIDS deceased parents and up to now there is no single orphanage in the area. The problem of street children is increasing, as it is in many towns in Tanzania now.Working with children trying to help them realise their potentials is both funny and rewarding. Kasulu Foundation shares their dreams and provides the means to achieve them. The foundation works together with the local church in reaching out to families whose children are stranded home or in streets but can potentially go to school. A special attention is paid to orphans who are either street children or live with relatives. Kasulu Foundation hopes that these children will have the opportunity to create a better chance through education which, the foundation hope will help break poverty cycle and help youngsters avoid gangs, drugs, prostitution and criminality and child labour. Join us in this journey, realise a dream of one child and you will make an impact you have not thought of yet!
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