Our Project

In Tanzania, CanaDares works in a formal joint-venture partnership with a Tanzanian-registered NGO, the Vijaliwa Vingi Society (VVS).

CanaDares holds the responsibility of raising funds and technically supporting the project, while VVS runs the day-to-day operations.

There are five programs included in the project:

The Residential Program, since 2004, has fully supported children who come from dangerous circumstances. Children range in age from five to eighteen years, and are brought into the project through the Ministry of Social Welfare. Preference is given to girls and sibling groups, and on average, there are thirty to thirty-five children in our “Family.” All of the children go to school, and all participants (including staff) live under house rules with a focus on creating positive role models for the younger ones.
The Education Program now includes a four-level pre-primary school which started in 2017. The primary school, which has increased one grade level per year, will be completed with Class 7, starting in January 2024. Youth in the Residential program who require secondary school or higher education are sent to government facilities under the financial support of VVS. The Education program also includes the accelerated secondary school program (live-in) for girls who had to leave school prematurely due to family problems. (See more under "Our School" and the May 2023 newsletter)
The Medical Program will provide services and programming to beneficiaries and the general public. The First Aid Office currently services the Residential and Education programs, with a full-time nurse, and a part-time medical officer. It is anticipated that a dispensary class facility to support the surrounding community may be initiated.
The Outreach Program will support, assist and educate registered beneficiary families living with orphaned and/or disadvantaged children. Our parents' meetings maintain contact between the school and the community and offer a subtle platform for outreach in an informal manner.
The Graduates Program supports participants who have "aged out" of the Residential Program. We will eventually fill any vacant staff position in the above four programs with participants who have qualified as social workers, nursery and primary school teachers, nurses, caregivers, office administration, bookkeeping, agriculture and other technical careers (such as electrical and mechanical techs, drivers, tailors, food services)

These five programs are supported by supervised dormitories with complete facilities, and an airy kitchen and dining room which serves three meals a day for residents, and two meals a day for day students and staff. (That's over a thousand meals a day!) Most day students arrive at school in our three school buses. Our farm provides eggs, milk, poultry, fruit and vegetables for the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Welfare was considering VVS' application to be a "children's home" - essentially an orphanage. This required compliance with seemingly endless regulations. Yet the ministry brought us children whom they had removed from living conditions deemed dangerous to the child's life. We started accepting sibling families. Village elders and police posts brought more children. Finally, the application was approved.

The registration allowed us to offer daycare and kindergarten, starting in 2017 in the administrative building. The students progressed and in 2018 we were able to start building the primary school.

In short, CanaDares and Vijaliwa Vingi are jointly a not-for-profit social enterprise, engaged in community development at the grassroots level.