Tanzania: Tanzania Home Economics Association
Project Update
The Tanzania Home Economics Association is in the final phase of developing a Kiswahili adaptation of Our Bodies, Ourselves for East Africa. This project is yet another example of how program partners successfully engage and capitalize community buy-in to ensure their resources are culturally inclusive, technically accurate, and have a life after completion.
From the start, our partner involved and received input from their nationwide association members, women and men from local communities – including elders and traditional healers – and different levels of local and central government. Academics, subject and language reviewers that understand the critical need for such a resource in the region also provided their services at significantly reduced rates.
As a result, the Kiswahili adaptation reflects the needs, experiences and expertise of different stakeholders; and the process of assimilating their perspectives has allowed our partner to build an impressive distribution network with grassroots and institutional reach.
Limited funding has been a concern. Our partner, along with an advisory committee, has therefore designed an alternative publishing strategy that will bring the Kiswahili materials into the community in shorter formats such as booklets and pamphlets. This will reduce costs, and enable our partner to implement a distribution plan that targets 100 academic/vocational institutions and 200 district councils across Tanzania. They will also explore ways to integrate the resource into the Government Educational Curriculum system.
Pending funding, they hope to reach women and girls in neighboring Kiswahili-speaking countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.
If you would like more information about this project and explore ways you might get involved, please contact the OBOS Global Initiative staff
Meet Our Partner
The Tanzania Home Economics Association is a national non-government membership organization that works to improve quality of life for women and their families.
Founded in 1980 by 17 home economists, its membership currently exceeds 1,000 individuals and institutions across the country. To achieve its mission, the organization draws on the expertise of members and collaborating partners with similar agendas.
Their outreach to rural populations includes initiatives on reproductive and sexual health; maternal, child, and adolescent health; sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS mitigation; education for orphan girls; food security; savings and credit; and environmental protection. The organization also conducts related research and surveys and produces informational material for distribution.
To read more about their work, see Constructing Toilets and Planting Trees, an excerpt from the 2011 edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves."
For more information, please contact either the OBOS Global Initiative or the organization directly.
Contact Person: Asia Kapande / Mary Kabati
Address: PO Box 11242, Mwanza, Tanzania
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Phone/Fax: (255-028) 2502555 / 2500676
Looking for a Copy?
If you would like information on the publication time line and how to obtain copies of the Kiswahili adaptation, please contact the Tanzania Home Economics Association at [email protected] / [email protected]
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