Santa Maria Child Care Foundation
One of the missions of the Rukwa Foundation is to encourage and promote new Tanzanian based NGO’s who are looking to improve health and education outcomes in southwest Tanzania. In 2022 we found a brand new NGO based in the Kalambo district that perfectly aligns with our goals. The Santa Maria Child Care organization is a small NGO established by some local teachers. These teachers were intimately involved with lots of local children that needed services far beyond what the public school system could provide. So, the founders of SMCC banded together, pooled their money, and began providing extra services for the districts most needy students. The interventions varied from eye-glasses, to wheelchairs, to emotional or financial support for struggling families trying to keep these high-needs kids in school. The Rukwa Foundation gave SMCC their first outside fund-raise in 2022 and followed it up with a more substantial grant in 2023 to aid them in expanding health insurance cards for the 57 identified students.
We look forward to working with SMCCF in the future and encourage anyone to contact them and offer your support.