SOMA KWA FURAHA INITIATIVE
SOMA KWA FURAHA INITIATIVE
Soma Kwa Furaha is a Swahili word that means education with Pleasure
The Soma Kwa Furaha Initiative (SKFI) is a national non-profit and Non-Governmental Organization based in Mwanza founded in 2021.
Our History
Soma Kwa Furaha Initiative (SKFI) was officially initiated under the generous support of different members from civil society organizations, community-based organizations and the local government authorities. The meeting was held on 1st January 2021 with founders who had the same goals and vision of empowering community-enabled SKFI formation. Since then, SKFI has been open to any ordinary individual’s membership, provided that he/she meets the qualifications agreed upon by the board members.
Vision
To build a resilient environment for vulnerable children, promoting quality education and better health care.
The SKFI envisions a healthy, educated and self-reliant community by improving access to quality education and enabling a friendly educational environment,
Mission
To enhance children get better, quality education for a brighter future. To promote the right to education and Healthcare for Orphans and Most Vulnerable Children (OMVC).
Guiding Principles
-> Start where you are
-> Collaborate
-> Be Transparent. -Work Holistically.
-> Progress Iteratively
Objectives
1. To promote quality education.
2. To advocate for the rights of children
3. To promote better child health care
4. To enhance community awareness of drug and child trafficking
5. To promote gender equality.
Our Programmes:
Education
Activities to help Orphans and vulnerable children(children with special needs) access formal education, alternative education programme, or vocational training and also to support scholastic material for children with impairment.
-> Provision of scholastic materials, school fees and Uniforms
-> Provide them with health insurance
-> Supplies girls with reusable sanitary pads
-> To acquire formal and non-formal education.
-> Reproductive health education.
-> Supplies Young Mothers with reusable sanitary pads and equips them with basic skills
on how to make low-cost sanitary pads with locally available materials.
-> Anti-drug education.
-> Education to end child marriage and Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation.
-> Counselling and support to victims of FGM.
Health
We offer Activities to help Orphans and vulnerable children especially children with special needs access appropriate health care and stay safe and to enhance community awareness on drug abuse and also to support health insurance for severe and bedridden children with impairment.
-> Community health awareness education
– >To support health insurance for severe and bedridden children with impairment
this program, we have the following activities
-> HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns most especially emphasize prevention among the youth.
-> Sanitation
Child protection and legal Support
Activities to help communities to understand the rights of children, protect orphans and vulnerable children especially children with special needs and young mothers from abuse, neglect and exploitation, and give them access to legal assistance with property and guardianship. To provide training for human rights and international and national laws regarding children with special needs.
Violations of the rights of children can include:
Physical abuse: Physical injury of a child through actions such as burning, kicking and beating to harm a child.
Psychological or emotional abuse: Extreme forms of punishment that are not physical, such as keeping a child confined without food, use of threats or abusive language, or failure to give emotional support and love.
Sexual abuse: Inappropriate sexual behaviour with a child, such as defilement, indecent assault, sex trafficking, pornography or forced marriages.
Child exploitation: Using children in activities that benefit others such as child labour or child prostitution.
Legal support is needed in issues involving adoption, fostering or inheritance or in any situation where laws are being broken. Community service providers should be familiar with The Children’s Statute and the Children’s Act to be effective in helping vulnerable children access appropriate legal support.
Activities
•Facilitating alternative family care services (Adoption, foster care and guardianship)
•Implementation of Children Rehabilitation Programmes.
Psychological Support
To conduct guidance and counselling to the parents of children with impairment, Psychological and emotional support for Orphans and vulnerable children, Youths and Young mothers to help them to cope.
Psychological support can help Vulnerable Children:
• Make sense of their bad experiences.
•Accept and live with strong feelings brought about by difficult situations. •Move forward with their lives and contribute to their communities.
Activities
-> Support Families to effectively meet Children’s Psychosocial Needs and Care for Children in Their Communities.
-> Provide Psychosocial Activities that Support Young Children through Early Childhood Development Programs
->Strengthen Social Welfare Services and Promote Community Child Protection Policies including Inheritance Rights.
-> Support Mentorship Programs for Children with special needs and affected by HIV/AIDS
-> Organize Community Caregiver Support Groups
Gender Equality
Activities to help women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike. Gender Equality is not only the right thing to achieve: It’s also important for the economy and vital to achieve the goal of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity around the world.
Activities
-> Creates awareness among communities and the public on gender and rights issues.
-> Women’s Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Development
-> Address gender-based –Violence (GBV)
-> Reduce maternal mortality
-> Media & ICTs – Given women a voice in African media and access to technology for knowledge
Socioeconomic Security
Activities that help vulnerable households of children with special needs have enough income or resources to meet basic needs (such as shelter, health, nutrition and schooling costs).
-> Food Production
-> Livelihood support activities.
Nutrition
Activities that support vulnerable households of children with special needs to have adequate, balanced meals at all times.
A good diet is made up of these three types of food.
-> Bodybuilding foods are foods with lots of protein: beans, eggs, fish, groundnuts, meat, milk, and peas.
-> Protective foods contain vitamins and minerals: fruits and vegetables (mango, pawpaw, green vegetables, carrots, pumpkin).
-> Energy-giving foods are rich in carbohydrates. Examples include bread, maize (posho), maize, millet, rice, sorghum, Irish/sweet potatoes and yams.
In this program, we help to educate the community on the whole issue of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.
Activities
-> School feeding activities in the rural areas
Empowerment of Communities
Activities that enable communities to increase control over their lives. We want them to build capacities to gain access to partners, networks and/or a voice, to gain control over their lives as well as to empower families of children with special needs.
SKFI empowered communities by doing the following activities
-> Provide skills/ leadership training and job network to youth
-> Provide microloans and financial literacy training to women entrepreneurs
-> Sponsor a girl child
-> Empowering women and girls through water, sanitation and hygiene; health and nutrition; livelihoods training; and education programs to increase their opportunities and ability to reach their full potential
-> Empower women and girls through sports
-> Arts and Music and Poetry
Home visit
To conduct a home visit to the children with impairment and make a consultation with the parents.
-> This enables us to identify the main fields of concern
Contact Us!
Write us a Mail, or have a look at our Website:
https://www.somakwafurahainitiative.co.tz