• TACE (Tanzania Community Enterprise) Fund

This program aims to empower young men and women in local communities to become economically independent by funding their micro-projects and connecting them with local, regional, and international market outlets.

The program also provides training and mentoring services to aspiring micro-entrepreneurs and engages in retail capacity building to enable individuals and support them to start their own projects.

Currently we are working toward providing micro-loans and training to 22 choral groups (with average membership of 36 each), which signed up since 2004.

OWOG, our "One Woman/One Goat" initiative has provided over 100 dairy goats for the women of Izigo Ward.

In addition, we helped build improved housing facilities for milking goats and provided 2 goat project coordinators from the local community to help improve milk production and a source of income for the families.

Also, as part of this project, a grant from ERM along with other funds has helped provide 10 rainwater retention systems for these families, in order to make sure both the villagers and their livestock have easier access to clean water.

We are being helped in this effort by a very special group, The Dream Team of the Fifth Grade Class of Ms. Mondrea Mitchell at Mark Twain Elementary in Houston, Texas.

The Dream Team is working hard to raise money for this project and has created a website to explain their involvement and commitment to the project. (http://www.freewebs.com/exhibitionsquad/index.htm)

• CHAI (Community Health Awareness Initiative Center)

Most of us believe that serious holistic development approaches cannot ignore the indispensable role of women in the community.

In most cases, women constitute the breadwinners in their families, but they also play a critical role in the community development.

Arguably, in Africa, an ailing family places a far heavier burden on a woman than any other family member and because of this understanding, COSAD initiated the CHAI Center.

In 2008, COSAD initiated a 3-year scholarship to the Ndolage School of Nursing for a student from Izigo.

Esneth Bakengi qualified as our first candidate, successfully completing the entrance exam in April of 2008.

She will graduate in August of 2011 and return to Izigo to provide much-needed medical assistance at the currently un-staffed clinic and also serve as a liaison to COSAD's CHAI projects in other rural areas.

Scholarships for three other students have now been provided.

• Bruce Lane Johnson Community Resource and Learning Center

This resource center within the COSAD Center honors Bruce Lane Johnson of Minnesota, who died of brain cancer in 2007.

By placing his name in the midst of our communities, the people of Tanzania remember that we all connect with our friends through the knowledge and values we share, regardless of the physical distance between us.

The center will provide following services:

• Literature & Resources for Local businesses
• Analysis & Information for Marketing and Potential Strategic Partners
• Computer & Online Literacy Center
• Membership-based Learning Center for all Community Members
• Nurturing of Children to Build a "Reading Culture"

In February 2008, COSAD started a partnership with the Kiteyagwa Primary School and the village leadership in Kagondo, Bukoba, to house a temporary BLJ Community Resource and Learning Center.

In early 2009, with the help of volunteers from abroad and local community members, COSAD renovated and furnished a room provided by the school to be used as a library and community resource center.

 

Friends in the United States continue to collect both books and hardware as resources for the center.

Books for Africa, Inc., a St. Paul, Minnesota-based non-profit organization, collaborated with COSAD to ship a container of books to Tanzania.

Students from the Masters of Library and Information Science Program at The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, cataloged and provided technical advice for the collection.

• COSAD Volunteers and Partners Resource Center

At COSAD, we firmly believe in creative partnerships.

Inviting friends and mobilizing volunteers, whether local or international, requires logistics and organizational management.

Attracting people to join hands in community development requires the provision of basic support infrastructure on the ground in Bukoba.

The COSAD Volunteers Resource Center will provide physical and logistical support to our partners to enable them to focus on community works without compromising their basic needs or safety.

We believe volunteering to Tanzania through COSAD programs provides a life-changing experience.

Individuals share their time, love, and expertise by "giving of themselves" in a way that allows them to effect positive changes.

Our programs create a chance for each individual who is willing to make a personal contribution to experience hands-on learning about Tanzanian communities and culture and exchange ideas with people of diverse talents and background.

---------Smart Baitani, Executive Director