Tanzanian orphans/Ark Foundation battle discrimination in court
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Dear Friends,
I have recently heard from the Tanzania Teens Against AIDS or-
ganization - who some of you in various forums may know already
- about a terrible case of discrimination they are currently
facing in Dar es Salaam, which also involves one of their pri-
mary sponsors, the Ark Foundation of Africa
(http://www.arkafrica.org). They have given me permission to post
this to e-forums so that people will know what is happening, and
also about the struggles that many orphans and vulnerable chil-
dren still face daily, despite the great work being done to ad-
dress stigma and discrimination and increase education and un-
derstanding.
The Tanzania Teens wrote a month or so ago about an "Orphans and
Vulnerable Children" camp they are organizing for the 23rd - 25th
of July, something they still plan to hold and which promises to
be a positive and uplifting event for some 200 youth. However,
problems which were already brewing with a neighbor who fears
their presence have increased to the point where not only the
camp has been endangered, but the continuing operation of the
facility which cares for the orphans, run by the Ark Foundation.
I have made some contacts myself to a journalist and to Kaanaeli
Kaale of TAMEYODA (Tanzania Media and Youth Development Associa-
tion) - who has pledged to help - and please read below about
other avenues now being pursued to keep the Ark center open and
help the Teens. If anyone reading this has ideas or ways in
which they might help, please contact Exec. Director Rhoi Kaima
of the Ark Foundation at mailto:rkaima@hotmail.com and the Teens
themselves at mailto:tzteensagainstaids@hotmail.com.
With greatest thanks to all, and here's hoping this terrible
situation can be resolved so that the Teens and Ark are able to
continue their invaluable and life-saving work!
Janet Feldman
Director, KAIPPG/International
mailto:kaippg@earthlink.net
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Their letter starts here:
Dear Janet,
How are you, thanks for your support, its been rough. Today, the
neighbor's lawyer brought a letter he has written to court be-
fore our hearing on Monday 19 July asking the judge to arrest
both Rhoi and the landlord who leases the facility to a group
taking care of orphans. He stressed that he is afraid of those
very poor children coming every morning in his middle class
neighborhood they may one day break into his wonderful well se-
cured residence. TACAIDS (Tanzania Council on AIDS) has provided
a lawyer to the Ark Foundation but the media and the politicians
that we approach are not concerned. Take the regional commis-
sioner, who sent his office to investigate and they found out
that the neighbor used money to buy (through court hiring) a
very expensive lawyer to take the case even though it has no
merit. On Monday, 100s of children will go to Kinondoni court in
Dar es Salaam to hear the case, but the neighbor has asked the
judge to have a closed hearing allowing only lawyers around, and
the police have refused to let us demonstrate.
103 of us have registered and will take the national examina-
tions in November, and the Ark Foundation center is the only
place in Dar es Salaam that provides free secondary school
classroom instruction with full time qualified teachers and some
social support, a place we have come to call home. We been to
the parliament but we were turned down because we are youth,
everywhere we go nobody listens to youth. I pray that the court
does not stop us from having an education, were more than 250
children who attend classes there, soy milk has been stopped,
now we only have classes 3 days a week till the court lifts the
injunction.
Could you please send this message to other listserves espe-
cially OVC ones? Please join with us, our future is in your
hands and in the hands of those who have given up all for us. If
they put Rhoi in jail for no good reason, they will stop her
helping AIDS orphans and will leave her own children without a
mother in DC.
Thank you!
Teens
mailto:tzteensagainstaids@hotmail.com