SOS Children in Tanzania

We have been helping children grow up with a happy childhood in Tanzania since the first children moved into an SOS Children’s Village on the island of Zanzibar in 1991. Now, we work across the country giving vulnerable children and orphans homes in our SOS Children’s Villages.

With SOS Children, you can help orphaned and abandoned children in Tanzania by sponsoring a child:

The challenge of poverty

Around 40% of the population of Tanzania live on less than $1 a day. Tanzania is one of the poorest nations in the world despite recent economic growth. 35% of the population are chronically malnourished. In rural areas, the percentage is even higher and there is little or no clean drinking water available for some.

HIV/AIDS is common in Tanzania, with more than a million people living with the disease. Around 160,000 are children under the age of 14.

Children in Tanzania

• In Tanzania, nearly one in 10 children do not survive. HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition are all contributing to the number of child deaths.
• Over a million children have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Many children find themselves at the head of their families, forgoing education and a normal childhood in the process. The school enrolment rate in the country is 57.3%, though in primary schools, the figure is at 95%. Raising the enrolment rate of children in school is a priority of the government.

Our charity work in Tanzania

Zanzibar

We began working in Tanzania in 1988 with the construction of a community on the island of Zanzibar, south-east of Zanzibar Town near the airport in a newly developed residential district. 11 family houses provide a home for 110 children and there are three SOS Youth Homes, one in the Village and two in Zanzibar, for older children and young people taking their first guided steps towards independence. An SOS School (primary and secondary) provides for the children's educational needs as well as those of children in the local community. We have also built an SOS Nursery and a health care centre which caters for the local population as well as the families in the SOS community. With its sports fields and mosque, the site has become a real neighbourhood centre.

Arusha

In 2000 the second SOS Children's Village in Tanzania opened in Arusha, a major town in northern mainland Tanzania. SOS Children's Village Arusha is about 13 km from the town centre, on the Nairobi Road, in the Ngarmantoni urban area. The village has ten family houses, a nursery school, and a school for both primary and secondary pupils.

Dar Es Salaam

A third SOS Children’s Village opened in Dar Es Salaam in 2007. There are 13 family houses for 130 children and a SOS Nursery School for 100 children. This includes a classroom for children with special needs.

Aids Orphans in Tanzania

Local Contact

SOS Children's Village of Tanzania Trust

P.O. Box 80462

Plot No. 47, Uporoto Street

Dar es Salaam

Kinondoni

Tanzania

Tel: +255/ 22 2760794

Fax: +255/ 22 2760795

e-mail: national.office@sos-tanzania.org