A second chance for teenage mothers in Tanzania

Expanding Opportunities: New Classrooms Enhancing Learning and Support for Teenage Mothers

The construction of three additional classrooms has greatly enhanced the ability to provide a supportive and effective learning environment for teenage mothers in Tanzania.

These new classrooms have already made a remarkable impact. With dedicated spaces for each of the core programs—academic education, vocational training, and counseling—more students can be served in a more structured, focused environment for learning and personal development. For example, the computer lab now has its own space, allowing students to learn vital digital skills without distractions. The newly established counseling room provides a safe, private area where students can receive the emotional support they need to heal from trauma and regain confidence in their future.

The completion of these classrooms has allowed for the separation and organization of different activities, improving the quality and delivery of programs. Students can now engage in focused learning, participate in vocational training, and receive counseling in spaces tailored to their needs, resulting in better academic performance, a stronger sense of community, and increased confidence.

While the new classrooms have significantly enhanced our capacity to serve more students, we now urgently need furniture—desks, chairs, and other essentials—to ensure these spaces are fully equipped for learning. Your continued support will directly impact our students' success, providing them with the tools they need to thrive and build a brighter future.

Thank you again for your generosity in supporting this project.

Ezekiel

Joyce’s dream of becoming a lawyer was smashed when she was raped at the age of 16 in a remote rural village. She experienced stigma, mistreatment, and harassment after becoming a mother. When the Tumaini team visited her village to tell the community about the second chance we offer to young mothers,

Joyce leapt at the opportunity. Now she has successfully completed secondary education and starts her diploma in law in September 2024. Joyce asserted “I am so grateful Tumaini came to our village with two important messages.

The first one is that abandoned young mothers like me can return to school, and the second is the availability of stigma-free and fee-free second chance through which I have completed form four”. At Tumaini, together with secondary education, Joyce got involved in community sensitization programs while as a living testimony, Joyce advocated for the families and community to allow and support young mothers to continue their education.

Specifically, Joyce's message centered on her personal experience as a young mother revealing the fact that “most teenage mothers are not sexually immoral as it has widely been claimed. Rather, they are the victims of sexual and gender-based violence. They passed through sexual assaults that compelled them into adolescent motherhood.

The second chance is an opportunity to continue their studies that restore hope in their lives”.

Thank you for supporting girls like Joyce to overcome sexual violence and giving them a second chance to pursue their dreams.

With gratitude

Ezekiel