Malengo Development Foundation

Empowering marginalised young mothers to provide for their families and establishing preschool learning opportunities for their children.

Many of the inhabitants of Tanzania's Simanjiro district are ethnic Maasai. High poverty rates, combined with limited access to healthcare and education—often due to many not speaking Swahili, the national language and the medium of instruction in schools—create a cycle of disadvantage for many families. Young women and children are particularly affected, and girls are especially at risk of early marriage, pregnancy, and increased vulnerability to HIV infection.

Malengo is a dynamic youth-led organisation dedicated to empowering children and youth with the skills and information they need to escape poverty and overcome inequality. In their Egmont-funded project, Malengo is specifically working young Maasai mothers, empowering them to overcome these challenges for themselves, their children and their community.

40 young mothers are being trained in business skills and supported to establish group businesses, enabling them to generate income and support their families. In addition, they are being inducted into savings groups where they can save to support their children's educations.

Alongside this, Malengo is setting up an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre where the mothers’ children will be enrolled. To make learning accessible for the Maasai community, teaching will be led by trained Maasai women who have attended school. They will teach children in their mother tongue and introduce them to Swahili to prepare them for primary school.

To prevent childcare issues, young mothers’ business training is taking place at the ECD centre and they are also being trained in childcare and outdoor play schemes which they will run in their communities, to promote and increase participation in child development activities.