Abel Bisibana (Director) and Lilian Sabuni (CEO) are founders of Lift Them Up they have extended the definition of women empowerment, child development and welfare, childcare, life skills for youth, healthcare promotion within the community, conservation farming and promoting the use of volunteers and interns in learning and embracing cultural diversity.
Lift Them Up children’s center, it’s core mission is to help poor children in their academic endeavors, emotional development, physical wellbeing through full time daycare. LITU’s children care center is a residential community center for children who are very poor, can’t afford all basic requirements and essential human beings requirements.This center provides early childhood education for children aged 2-6 years to prepare them for formal education.
Lift Them Up (LITU) foundation was started in May 2021 with the aim of resolving development challenges within Nasholi Village at Kikatiti-Arusha.
LITU children center started with 2 children from very poor families in September 2021, very quickly we expanded to 15 children and at the moment we provide early childhood education for 40 children. We have more children on the waiting list but the facility that we are renting can only accommodate this number. We have a vision of having our own land and to build our own center, and we are working on securing funds for this effort. At the moment we have 50% to purchase the land and we are actively working on securing more funds. The children in our school are from the diverse ethnic and religious affiliation.We believe in equal access to education empowerment of marginalized community and brighter tomorrow where these children are the heroes of their own story
Help change the lives of countless children, and communities through creative education.
Volunteer in the vibrant culture and diverse landscapes of Tanzania.
Help Improve girls and women employability future prospects.
Diverse and hands on work with plenty to do.
You will develop new transferable skills and gain industry experience that match your passion and interests.
Experience day off adventures and embrace Tanzania's local culture, sights & attractions.
Our Main Mission
We enable vulnerable children to afford a better future by offering them access to education, culture and health. We believe that education is the best way to grow and build. Everyday, we are taking care of 50 children, giving them the education, love and attention they need. Also we assure that they receive 1 breakfast and 1 lunch per week day. We are convinced that mutual aid and sharing within our community is the best way to achieve our goal. The schooling of half of the children in school allows us to finance the schooling of the other half of the children, poorer and orphans for most of them.
Moreover, we achieve our mission through fundraising, volunteer involvement, public awareness, local events and partnerships. If you want to help us in our mission, you can donate to our fundraising.
Our Other Goal
We support youth and women with an adapted program so that they can get out of the poverty and be able to increase their income and to pay the costs related to the schooling of their children. To achieve that, we train them on sewing and handcraft skills and when they are graduated we offer them the sewing machine to let them manage their own business.
LITU has 4 key areas to be part of:
1) LITU’s Sponsorship Program
This program focus on improving physical, emotional and social well-being of the most vulnerable children.
The children will be given several opportunities to develop their unique talent and they will be able to learn and study in a safe environment where they will be taken care of, protected and followed step by step.
Background
Today, unfortunately, most families cannot afford a private school education so the children are enrolled in public schools. This happens because public schools are free except for transports, food and accessories but this does not allow them to have a proper education.
The public system means that the children are taught in the native language, Swahili, during all the primary school. English is not used until the children advance to secondary school, after 8 years. Thus, the children will study different subjects as history, geography, mathematics, civics, social education, biology, chemistry in Swahili for most of their young age. Only once the children advance to secondary school they start to be taught in English meaning that they have only 4 years to master it in order to succeed the national exam. As a result most children fail, drop out of school or perform poorly.
Objective and program details
The main objective of the program is to find sponsors in order to support children education and health services.
With the help of the sponsors the children will be able to enroll in private schools where they will be given the proper education, they will be taught English from an early age and they will be followed in each step of their academic history. All this will happen on safe environment where they will be given the opportunity to also actively participate in the community.
What is a sponsor ?
The sponsor is someone willing to help a child through their studies in primary school for 7 years. This means that the child will be able to enroll and study in a private school giving them the opportunity to follow their studies and have a brighter future.
The sponsor will be asked to help the child paying an amount of USD$440 per year ( around USD$36 per month). The payment can be done every six months for an amount of USD$220 each.
The money will be used to cover all the tuition fee of the private school, uniforms and all the stationery needed for the year (pens, pencils, eraser, notebooks, etc.).
The sponsors will be able to receive any kind of information about the child and their education throughout the years in several ways:
· they will have the possibility to visit the child at his home place in order to get to know them and their families personally.
· they will have the possibility to visit the house, the school and the village of the child
· they will be able to receive pictures at anytime
· they will be able to communicate directly with the children via letters through LITUs office
2) HealthCare Program
The main purpose of the project is to provide healthcare to disadvantages and vulnerable individuals who lives in Kikatiti, Makiba and King’ori villages. These villages don’t have any means of healthcare nearby so the program will help more than 7000 villagers including children and staff from the center.
We operate on the following topics:
1. Family Planning/Sexual education and techniques/methods
2. Reproduction education on secondary schools
3. Myths about reproduction
4. Distribution of menstruation materials like sanitary pads/reusable pads and education about menstruation cup.
3) Career development Training
Sewing & Tailoring
This project targets to help young adult in the local community that has alarmingly high rate of school drop outs. We want to help these youths have more options with their lives. We work with the local community members and volunteers to pilot and run programs.
We have now successfully established a tailoring class for young people and women though we are planning to raise a funds for building a more classes for other vocational training programs.
By your support we will be able to build all infrastructure for accomplishing this project.
Handcraft
Recently we have launched a new handcraft program for women. We welcome a small group of women twice a week.
In comparison with the sewing project, here the women already have the skills and are not students anymore. However, we help them to market the creations and sell them in order to increase incomes’s women.
4) Organic Gardening
Our garden initiative has a two-fold objective: firstly, to cultivate fruits, vegetables, and salads that will enrich the nutritional offerings for school children. Secondly, we aim to educate these young minds about the art of gardening. Through this project, children not only learn how to grow and nurture plants but also gain an understanding of the value of composting.
Our project had humble beginnings, starting with the preparation of the land for cultivation. Over time, with the invaluable support of our dedicated volunteers, we were able to fortify the garden area with a protective fence. We successfully planted and harvested crops like corn and introduced fruit-bearing trees such as bananas and papayas.
In 2023, we achieved a significant milestone by establishing a greenhouse. The benefits of the greenhouse were immediately evident, prompting us to plan the construction of an additional one. Presently, our thriving garden boasts a variety of crops, including lettuce, bananas, carrots, rosemary, avocado, chili, aloe vera, mango, papaya, and guava.
What To Expect As A Volunteer
Classroom and childcare volunteering
As a classroom or childcare volunteer, you’ll collaborate with our local staff in our day-care center, both inside and outside the classroom. This role fosters a meaningful cultural exchange between international volunteers, children, and teachers. Your responsibilities may include:
Assisting teachers with arts and crafts activities
Introducing children to new perspectives and ideas
Immersing children in the English language
Providing personalized attention, mentoring, and educational support
Assisting with daily tasks
Are you passionate about the wellbeing and development of children around the world? Lift Them Up Foundation Childcare volunteer opportunities enable you to explore a new culture and gain experience working with children, while educating the next generation.
Organic Farming and Greenhouse volunteering
Our premises at the LITU Foundation boast a charming garden and a greenhouse where we cultivate vegetables, herbs, and trees. These resources not only sustain our staff and volunteers but also contribute to our long-term goal of providing homegrown food to the children we serve.
Our current crops include lettuce, bananas, carrots, rosemary, avocado, chili, aloe vera, mango, papaya, and guava. As a farming and greenhouse volunteer, your tasks may encompass:
Taking care of the compost bin and making sure everything is composted properly
Ensuring proper composting practices
Planting seeds and tending to plants
Watering and weeding
Soil cultivation
Marketing and Web production volunteering
The LITU Foundation utilizes various media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and our website, to communicate our work in communities, promote our projects, maintain program visibility, and support marketing endeavors. If you choose to volunteer in marketing and website production, your responsibilities may include:
Keeping our website up to date
Crafting compelling project narratives
Capturing daily activities through photography
Managing content on our Facebook and Instagram accounts, posting updates and stories
Designing and distributing informative flyers in the local community
Fundraising / Grant Research and Writing
To sustain our foundation’s operations, a steady income is crucial. We rely on meticulous research to identify funding opportunities and strengthen our financial stability. As a fundraising and grant research volunteer, your tasks may involve:
Researching grants for which LITU qualifies
Assisting in preparing grant proposals
Exploring potential partnerships with local organizations
Organizing fundraising events and activities
Accommodation
We can provide a housing with the local family to the volunteers. It is shared with the other volunteers. The housing is equipped with the basic facilities. It has 2 separate bedrooms. One bedroom has two twin bunk beds, and 2nd bedroom has a queen size bunk bed and its own restroom with the shower. There is also a living room area and a 2nd restroom with the shower. The house has a separate washing area where the volunteers can wash their clothes. Also, the volunteer can decide to stay in a guest house close to the Foundation.
At Lift Them Up Foundation we try to provide best of the living arrangements to our international volunteers. So when you arrive in Tanzania, you do not have to worry about anything and simply focus on your volunteer work and enjoy the experience!
Airport transfer
We will pick you up to the closest airport: Kilimanjaro International Airport. Then you will be transferred to the accommodations in Arusha. Volunteers can also arrive in Nairobi and take a direct shuttle or bus to Arusha. In this case, they will be picked up at the bus station.
Orientation
All volunteers will be provided with an orientation session by the local coordinator from Lift Them Up Foundation. Areas like safety, locations, transportation, things to see etc. will be covered in the orientation. After your orientation is over, you will be introduced to your project and given a tour of the local area and town.
Meals
Volunteers are provided with 3 meals in a day:
· Breakfast
· Lunch
· Dinner
Typical meals include salads, ugali, chapatti, tea, bread and rice, with vegetables and fruits. Breakfast and dinner are provided at the volunteer house while lunch is usually served at the Foundation. For lunch you will have the same meal that kids are having on that day. All meals are usually local Tanzanian food.
During your free time
Typically most of the volunteers choose to travel outside Arusha on the weekends and go for Safari trips. You have the option to choose a 2 to 3 day Safari trips to Serengeti, Tarangire and Ngorogoro.
You can also head to Moshi or explore the coffee plantations and waterfalls area near Arusha. Volunteers can also go for short hiking trips near Arusha.
Follow us on our social networks to see more about our volunteers.
Our price in minimal to help cover our logistic costs for accommodation, foods & transportation.
From Only = €15 Per Night.
1 - 2 Weeks = €12.50 Per Night
2 - 4 Weeks = €10.00 Per Night
4 + Weeks = Contact Us For Prices
Additional Info
Additional Information
Things to know about entering Tanzania
Which airport should I use?
The nearest airport is Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). We can only do airport pickup and drop-off from JRO. If you plan to fly to Nairobi or Dar E Salaam you will have to take a bus to Arusha. It is very important that you communicate this information with us so that we can accommodate and advice you accordingly.
What happens when I arrive at the airport?
Once your plane lands you will stand in line for a Visa and then go through security. Our representative will be waiting for you at arrivals with a sign that has your name on it. The representative will take you to your accommodation.
Which vaccinations should I get?
Yellow Fever vaccination is not required when entering Tanzania from the United States or most of the countries in Europe. It is required when entering Tanzania from the infected areas / countries or having been in transit in the infected areas. Malaria pills: we recommend you to consult with your physician. Some volunteers and visitors are taking them and some decided not to. Polio, Hep A, Hep B, Diphtheria/Tetanus, Typhoid, Tuberculosis and Cholera vaccinations are a good idea. Discuss with your local travel clinic for the most up to date list of required vaccinations.
Do I need a Visa or Work Permit?
Yes. Visa can be obtained upon arrival Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). The process takes a few minutes and is quite easy. Important: you will need to pay in cash for on arrival visa. The cost is $100 for US nationals and $50 for other nationalities. In rare cases, a work permit may be required to volunteer in Tanzania. This is for the individual cases only and does not apply for short-term volunteers and visitors. The cost of the work permit is $200 USD for every 3 months. The first day after your arrival, we will go to the immigration office to get your work permit. We can be fined up to $400 USD for having volunteers without work permits.
How much money will I need? Can I use a credit card?
Credit cards can be used in most major towns, but volunteers must take caution with the safety of their valuables. We will always give volunteers the opportunity to get cash out in safe surroundings. Spending money will vary depending on the extra excursions and trips a volunteer would like to be involved in.
What is the national currency in Tanzania?
National Currency is the Tanzanian Shilling (TZS). While U.S. dollars are accepted in Tanzania, local currency is often preferable. Volunteers may either exchange money through available bureau de change or use the ATM upon their arrival. 1$ is approximate to 2,280 Tanzanian Shilings.
Do I need to know the host country language?
You do not need to know the local language to volunteer. Our team and most of the children speak English. You will probably pick up some of the local language during your trip – children love to teach volunteers new words!
What is the weather like in Tanzania?
Arusha is located in the slopes of Mt. Meru. Temperature ranges from 16°C to 36°C depending on the current season.
Will I be able to contact home?
Yes, You will be able t contact home, On your arrival we recommend to buy a GSM SIM card that you can use to make calls and connect to 3G or 4G cellular network.
What happens in case of a medical emergency?
Our team will ensure that you receive immediate medical assistance. In the event of a serious illness or accident, each volunteer will be covered by their insurance policy, which is why we require all volunteers to have adequate insurance which includes repatriation.
Is there any risk of contracting HIV, yellow fever or malaria?
We advise volunteers to take all precautions necessary to ensure they don’t get sick. This includes frequent hand washing, applying mosquito-repellent, and being careful about what you eat and drink. We recommend that volunteers travel with:
· Pain killers – Paracetamol /Ibuprofen (also known as Tylenol/Advil)
· Hand sanitizes (a few small ones, keep one in your day pack,)
· Topical antihistamine
· Tummy tablets (such as: anti-diarrhea, anti-nausea