Hananasif Orphanage Center (HOCET) was founded by local visionary Hezekia Mwalugaja in 2002 to address the escalating proportions of orphaned children left in the wake of disease and poverty in Tanzania, currently ranked one of the poorest countries in the world. HOCET seeks to offer holistic, community-oriented care to orphans and vulnerable children through education, healthcare, spiritual and leadership development, infrastructural and economic development, vocational training, and the promotion and cultivation of the arts in both urban and rural regions of Tanzania. Through networking people of faith throughout Tanzania, HOCET works toward the common end of securing hope and a promising future for society's most vulnerable youth.
HOCET began as a modest daycare center with 12 children. During his first three years of leadership, Hezekia worked diligently to mobilize local support for the orphanage and to introduce his unique philosophy of ministry to the community. He spoke honestly about how he was not only burdened by the poverty and despair that gripped this emerging generation of AIDS orphans, calculated by USAID as more than 1 million in Tanzania alone in the year 2000, but that he was even more disturbed by the way that the majority of orphanages he had encountered were "being run like businesses," where the children were used as a channel for access to foreign aid. "They [exaggerate] their numbers to make money," he explained. "After seeing this, I refused to do the write-up for foreign assistance. I believed that Tanzanians must commit to helping Tanzanians - that this issue we can solve through the work and the resources within our own community."
Lucy, Gustaf, Irene, Asha, Stella, Msekwa, Antony, Aziza, Freddie, Tina, Omari, Bakari.
Soon a manageable 12 children grew to 30 as the original kids began to ask on behalf of their orphaned friends, cousins and other neighboring children if they could come as well to join the program. Beyond the food, clothing and school fees they were receiving through the center, the children of HOCET were opening their hearts to another critical aspect of the organization's ministerial philosophy that Hezekia would say is the very centerpiece of his work: "They needed to first find the hope. They needed to first know that the loss of their parents or their life on the streets no longer defines them. It is not the streets or the poverty that has given them their name. They have been given a new name. They don't call themselves orphans, no. They call themselves "Watoto wa Mungu." Children of God.
The power of that message began to instill not only a deep and living hope among the children, but a strong sense of community and vision among them. Hezekia began writing song lyrics to capture the essence of this experience, and he called on members of the community to push the music initiative forward. Godfrey, Erasto and Emmanuel were three highly talented, twentysomethings with a passion for music and a love for children. They began coming regularly to the center to write melodies to Hezekia's lyrics and teach the kids the songs. In time, 12 of the children were practicing nearly every night their singing and dancing routine. They came to be called the Hananasif Children's Choir.
As another unique aspect of his approach to orphan care, Hezekia also sought out other members of the community to work specifically with the children toward the development of skill-sets and the nurturing of their natural talents, including sewing lessons, art classes, and English tutorials. He pushed forward with his two-pronged goals: to invest in the lives of his children and to continue to work toward establishing relationships with members of the community, gradually and persistently introducing them to his vision.
Raised on a farm in the southern region of Tanzania in the Mbeya District, Hezekia grew up intimately acquainted with the importance of agriculture to the country's economy. Merging his years of experience in agriculture with his commitment to strategically achieve sustainability for HOCET, Hezekia envisioned Hananasif Orphanage Center to have two separate locations: one City Center in Dar-es-Salaam to serve as an accessible location and outreach for street children; and another "Shamba" Center on the outskirts of the city that would include (1) a private primary and secondary boarding school through which HOCET could offer excellence in education and vocational training to orphans and vulnerable children from throughout the country; (2) a diverse agricultural project launched on several hundred acres of land that would serve HOCET in several critical ways: (a) provide nourishment to the students that they would otherwise never have; (b) provide an opportunity to teach both urban and rural students about agriculture and development, marketing and micro-businesses, and the importance of sustainability, all in the context of their community and their country's economy; (c) and provide a surplus of produce that could be marketed and sold to the city to generate a sustainable income for the center.
It would also include (3) a health clinic staffed by one Tanzanian full-time nurse and a rotation of volunteers (national and/or international), that offers free health care and health education seminars to the HOCET children and surrounding community. Finally, it would also include (4) an array of extracurricular activities that would broaden the students' skills, interests, knowledge base and global perspective (art, music, sports, travel, extended library and computer lab, etc)
In this way, Hezekia envisioned Hananasif Orphanage Center to be a grassroots, faith-based, development-oriented ministry that offers holistic care and support to orphans and vulnerable children throughout Tanzania through a community-based network of support and resources.
Over the course of the last several years, there have been a number of visitors and volunteers from all over the world who have come to HOCET to serve, to learn, and to spend time with its remarkable kids. Many of them have felt empowered and inspired by their experience and have afterward sought opportunities to continue to be a part of the vision, long after they return to their home countries. In addition to growing international partnerships with individuals abroad, HOCET continues to cultivate support locally through music performances by the children's choir; speaking engagements for Hezekia; and other activities that help to raise both funds and awareness. Although there is still much work to be done, there is a growing network of people who are committed to the vision for the children of HOCET and for the vulnerable youth of Tanzania.
Seeds have been planted, and growth is happening! The volunteer efforts have been a cooperative enterprise with people from around the world. For a brief history of volunteer interaction with HOCET here is a timeline of some of the major events that we can remember; please contact us with additions:
November: Local carpenter Thomas builds a bookshelf for the center's first library. University of Dar-es-Salaam student Innocent Efraim locates a warehouse of donated books and transports books to the Center to help develop the library.
November 2005: Mwanaidi, a local tailor, offers a five-week sewing course for the kids; a number of individuals from the US donate funds to buy the sewing machines.
November 2005: American exchange student Chelsea Koenigs visits HOCET and donates several bags of new fabrics for the children's sewing lessons.
December 2005: American volunteer Sydney Schaef returns to US to begin fundraising after several months of working daily at the center.
February 2006: David Lipps designs HOCET's first website.
February 2006: Sydney pitches "Study Abroad Program" to Cornerstone Academy of Gainesville, FL, hoping to provide the opportunity for two of HOCET's top students (one girl, one boy) to study for one school year in America.
March 2006: Funds are donated for the purchase of 300 acres of land in the Mkuranga District for our Shamba Center.
March 2006: Cornerstone Academy grants two full scholarships to Gustaf Enesmo and Irene Efeso of HOCET to study at their school for one academic year. Host family is also located, interviewed and approved.
March 2006: Sydney Schaef and friend Sarah Lowe begin brainstorming over launching a non-profit to help streamline donations, fundraising, and communications in U.S.
March 2006: German volunteer Sabine Loeffler spends several months volunteering at HOCET, teaching English and working with Hezekia and his assistant, Joan Matee.
April 2006: Funds are donated for the purchase of the center's first computer and printer, as well as for a motorcycle with a trailer for transport.
April 2006: Sydney and Melissa host a benefit concert in south Florida, raising more than $1,000 for general needs of the orphanage center.
May 2006: David Lipps, Erin Eckhardt, Melissa Reyes, Sarah Lowe and Sydney Schaef venture to Tanzania to record an album of the children's choir; teach photography and English lessons; perform a Needs Assessment of the recently purchased 300 acres of land.
June 2006: Verbal commitment from Gainesville contractor to lead a team of workers to construct a school building on the new land in the Mkuranga District.
August 2006: August Newsletter is released and posted on website.
October 2006: Team of 10 American volunteers led by Frank Stankunas travel to Dar-es-Salaam and build a 2,700-square foot three-room school house, jumpstarting development of the Shamba Center.
November 2006: Josh Wexelbaum, a world-traveling web-marketer joins the U.S. volunteer team to assist with development of the HOCET website.
December 2006: Kujali International becomes an incorporated Florida business.
February 2007: Hananasif Children's Choir Album, Twakushukuru, is released and available for purchase online.
March 2007: Hananasif Academy opens its doors to 40 orphaned and vulnerable children from throughout Tanzania; four teachers are recruited and several additional staff.
April 2007: Sydney and Melissa host a benefit concert and CD release party for HOCET at the Christian Study Center of Gainesville; $1,100 are raised for General Needs funds for HOCET.
April 2007: Janine Michael, a graphics designer, makes promotional cards to help raise funds for HOCET's new private boarding school, Hananasif Academy.
May 2007: Matthew Noble, Kimberly Russel, Natalie Towry, and Jesica Love spend several weeks at HOCET, teaching at Hananasif Academy, planting crops, and helping with continued construction.
May 2007: Cornerstone Academy receives notification of their certification with the US government to host international students, thus opening the door for Gustaf and Irene.
May 2007: First passion fruit harvested at Shamba Site, among other crops being grown, including watermelon, passion fruit, tomato, lettuce, spinach, and groundnuts.
June 2007: Sydney travels to Dar-es-Salaam for her third visit in two years to perform a Needs Assessment and compile a Progress Report. June Newsletter is released.
June 2007: Gustaf and Irene are granted student visas to travel to the US for their Study Abroad Program, 2007.
July 2007: American volunteer Eian Schnoor travels to TZ to spend five weeks working at the Shamba Center, building bunk beds and working on construction phases (putting roof on new classroom building; laying foundation for administration block).
July 2007: Funds are collectively raised to pay for airfare and travel expenses for Gustaf and Irene; tickets are booked and the kids are scheduled to arrive in Florida on July 18, 2007.
July 2007: Funds are donated to pay for the completion of the water well construction at the Shamba Center.
August 6th: Gustaf and Irene begin school at Cornerstone Academy in Gainesville, FL.
. . .
"Here, we do not call the children 'orphans.' We do not reinforce that they have either lost their parents or have been abandoned. We teach them that God is their father; that God is taking care of them. They have now a place to sleep at night, food when there wasn't food for them before; they are learning and going to school and getting their education. They have each other. You see? They can have hope. They do have a father and he is taking care."
- Hezekia Mwalugaja
"True religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress . . ."
- James 1:27
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