“when I give vision, I will also give provision for the vision”
Word from the President
Dear New Life Foundation family all over the world. I greet you all in the name of Jesus. It is my hope that you are all doing fine, even in the midst of everything that is happening in the world right now.
When the Lord spoke to my wife, Josephine, and me about raising Him an army of transformational leaders 20 years ago. We had plenty of reasons to doubt Him and even say no. We had no resources, no funds whatsoever, and no support. In fact, we could barely afford school fees for our two children at the time. So when God laid it in our hearts to help the needy and orphans; we felt like we ourselves are the needy and needed help.
But God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. God told us, very clearly that, “when I give vision, I will also give provision for the vision”.
So we obeyed Him and in 2001, we started New Life Foundation at our then four-room rented house in Moshi, Tanzania. We didn’t have much to start with but we trusted God for provision as we carried out His work. And today, I can confidently testify that throughout these 20 years, He has never failed us. Through miraculous encounters, he has provided donors and supporters from all over world. We are very grateful to our supporters in New Zealand, Norway, and the United States where New Life Foundation is a registered organization with a body of directors in these countries. We also grateful to our supporters in South Korea, Canada, and other countries who have consistently supported us financially and with prayers over the years. As we celebrate 20 years of New Life Foundation, I look back on the years and remember of the moments when each of you from these countries became our supporters. My heart overflows with awe and gratitude as I relive the moments when God would speak to us and say, “Go to Norway or USA or New Zealand”. And when we did, He had prepared people for us there.
I would like to thank you, our dear sponsors, donors, and supporters from all over the world, for accepting the call to support the work that God has laid in us. Throughout these 20 years, you have been a constant remainder of God’s faithfulness and goodness to New Life Foundation. Indeed, you are part of our story, and the stories of thousands of children, teen mothers, and ostracized young women that our organization has touched through the 20 years. When God told us to raise Him an army of transformational leaders, we knew we would not have to do it alone.
I will conclude my greetings with a quote from Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at a proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.
The Lord bless you as you continue to support New Life Foundation in raising up transformational leaders of the future according to His will and plan. Hope to see you soon.
20th Anniversary Celebrations
On the 31st of July 2021, New Life Foundation’s board of directors, staff, students and our entire family, both home and abroad, celebrated 20 years since it was first founded in 2001.
For the celebration event, we invited the Regional Commissioner of Kilimanjaro (the highest-ranking official at the regional level) who sent a delegation on his behalf led by the Regional Educational Officer. We also had representatives from other national and international institutions such as Compassion International, World Vision, other schools, banks and churches. The event was phenomenal, with some of the major highlights being student’s testimonies, dance, and science presentation.
For the science presentation, our students performed a live demonstration of filtering process and illustrated how it relates to the human excretory system. Did you know that drinking at least 3 liters of water a day lowers your chances of developing “kidney stones” by at least a factor of 4?* Maybe you do. But have your ever seen a live demonstration from the best minds in Tanzania of just how inadequate intake of water to the body actually plays a role in developing these stones?
Another interesting highlight at our Anniversary event was the presentation of New Life Foundation’s workers and staff in their glorious matching outfits. The organization has approximately 40 workers full-time serving at different capacities including teachers, care givers, administration, and other non-teaching positions. It is estimated that over 200 workers and volunteers have passed through New Life Foundation in its 20 year tenure. Whilst most of these workers are local (Tanzanians), the organization has employed workers from other countries as well. Such as Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia and Uganda. As well as volunteers from New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, S. Korea and the USA.
The event also featured testimonies from some of our children: Melody, Maria, and Happy. Parents, invited guests, journalists, and everyone present at the event got to hear from our children about how God has changed their lives through New Life Foundation. Everyone at the event was emotionally touched by their stories, but even more by their courage and bravery in testifying the goodness of God in their lives. What New Life Foundation has done and continues to do in the lives of children is remarkable. Here are their stories in brief:
Melody was abandoned as an infant on the roadside by her mother. Her mother had asked a nearby student walking home from school to hold the baby for her while she goes to the bathroom. She never came back for the baby. The student held the baby for hours until it began to get dark around her. Terrified, the student started crying out to pedestrians for help. Little Melody ended up briefly at a social welfare facility where New Life Foundation through Fountain of Zoe took her while she was only a few days only and raised her ever since. Today she a 17 year-old girl with dreams of becoming an international pilot, gospel singer, public speaker, and a Christian rapper. She considers going with the name “Princess Mel” for her rapping career. When asked about the choice of the name, she said, “It’s because we don’t have princesses in Tanzania”.
Upcoming and Ongoing Projects
We are very grateful to God through the support of our donors and supporters; we have been a recipient of Manna-Pack food several times in the past. The food was exceptionally delicious and nutritious; our children enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, the Manna-Pack food is now finished, but we have found use in the now empty shipping containers that had transported and housed our food. New Life Foundation will be transforming these used shipping containers into office spaces and a library. The work began in early July, and so far so good! Essentially, we have welded two freight containers together creating a total of 18 x 42 ft. space that we reckon will be used for our student’s library and a potentially office space. Our students are enjoying the transformation as much as we are. A transformed library for future world transformers – it just feels right!
We are also excited to announce that we will be starting our new secondary school building project soon. The government recently granted permission to building the project and we are now finalizing some paper work ahead of the commencing the project. In fact, inspectors from the government have been very pleased with the area. The current secondary school compound is quite small for the number of students and on several occasions inspectors from the government have expressed dissatisfaction over the area.
The picture on the left is our current secondary school campus. The secondary school hosts about 84 students; we could expand the number of student admissions to 200 on our new area.
New Fountain of Zoe Staff
Fountain of Joy and Fountain of Zoe are independent departments within the New Life Fountain Organization that have become dormant mainly due to financial reasons. Fountain of Zoe served as a home for abandoned babies between 0 to 5 years old while the Fountain of Joy served as the home for risk teenage girls, such as those prone to prostitution and sex trafficking. It is with excitement that we announce to you that the process is now underway. We have hired a new staff member for Fountain of Zoe, Mrs Leah Kimario. She will be working as an assistant coordinator, under Josephine Shoo. Leah holds a bachelor degree in sociology and social works from Mwenge Catholic University. She has previously worked with TAWREF (Tanzania Women Research Foundation) on matters of women empowerment and awareness, she has also worked as a consultant as well as conducting seminars to mothers and their children.
Our pressing needs at the moment
On our first summer newsletter we shared the need for two projects that will help diversify the school income. The school has developed business plans for two projects, a poultry farm and a bakery, that will help them in reaching the goal to become more sustainable and provide nutritious food for the students and staff.
Poultry Farm Project
We recently received the full amount required to start working on the chicken farm in Moshi. Praise God! On behalf of NLF, we want thank you donors for your generous gifts. The goals of the poultry farm include providing eggs for the school children, eggs to sell publicly to generate income, and a unique learning experience for the students as they assist in caring for the chickens. The projected income will help cover the annual cost of food for the school and be a great blessing. The school needs several start up items to begin. These include setting up the chicken barn, installation of a water supply system, buying the chickens, purchasing chickenfeed, and labor. These initial capital costs was estimated to be $6,000. The funding provided allows the project to begin and operate for three months. Once the initial chickens are producing, it is expected that the income from the project will cover its on-going operational expenses and generate income for the school.
Bakery Project
The bakery project will produce and sell baked goods for use to feed the school children and staff and sell to the public to generate income. A building to house the bakery is already available, needing only a few minor preparations. The school consumes approximately 250 loafs of bread per week, resulting in a yearly cost of roughly $5,000. The bakery project will be able to provide this bread at a greater discount to the school, as well as generate income from the sale of goods. The children will also reap the benefits of learning about the bread making process and the business skills related. The school has already started baking bread on a smaller scale, so moving to a bigger kitchen and production is something they are eager to start.
The School needs to purchase and build the necessary infrastructure and equipment to set up the bakery. This includes an oven, mixer, moulds, bread slicer, shelving and tables. The school also needs to raise the initial year of personnel expenses, ingredients and materials to allow the bakery to become self-sustaining in the future. The needed funds for this project are $30,000 ($17,400 for capital infrastructure and $12,600 for the first year of personnel expenses and materials). NLF & local donors have pledged $8,000 (25%) of the amount needed to be raised. We have received $6500 from donors for this project. Again, our hearts are filled with gratitude and appreciation. These donations will make a huge impact on the health and well-being of the students. We are asking NLIF donors to help raise the remaining $15,500.
Dining Hall
We do not have a dedicated building that our children can use as a dining hall. This has created a certain degree of inconvenience around the school as our children are forced to eat in their classrooms. Quality assurance officers from our district have already commented on the lack of a dining hall on several of their previous visits. A dining hall is one of our most pressing needs at the moment and we would like to invite our donors from all over the world to support us in this project. A dining hall will create a conducive environment for our children as they have lunch, breakfast, and dinner. A spacious dining hall can also be used as a meeting area with our students for indoor occasions.
Staying in touch with sponsored child
"An exciting addition! New Life will soon be utilizing anew way for sponsors and students to communicate. You will receive an email soon from Clarity.co. This program allows you to draft or upload letters as well as pictures for your student to see. You will also be able to access current and past pictures and letters from your student. We believe this will greatly assist in keeping frequent communication and building relationships. Look for an email soon with instructions on creating a username and password. With Clarity it is guaranteed to receive a quicker response than the traditional letter communication that currently exists. The program is very easy to access and we hope will be a great blessing.
