About Organization
Angel House Children’s Home (AHCH) is a Non-Governmental and non-lucrative Charitable Institution based in Tarime district, Mara region, Tanzania. Its founding was consequent upon the meeting between its pioneers, viz Mr Christopher Ryoba Kangoye, at that time a Tanzania Revenue Authority employee, and Mr Fredrick E. Allen, a Missionary from Ohio, in the United States of America. Initially, the two met in Dar es Salaam in 2003. Allen was all out to open a lucrative business in Dar es Salaam, whereas Kangoye proposed to open an orphanage and displaced children’s home in Tarime district. The latter proposal sounded quite feasible and, therefore, Kangoye and Allen made an impromptu visit to Tarime. While there, a common stand was concluded to establish and register a local charitable institution.
Kangoye was assigned to scout around for land and also to work on the registration of the proposed local charitable institution. On the other hand, Allen was designated to fund-raise internationally, especially in the United States. Eventually, forty five acres of land were identified, seven kilometres from Tarime township, within the vicinity of Mori river. The land was donated to the institution by the Gamasara village community for the construction of a children’s home. Allen, in partnership with the United Methodist Church of America and other friends, managed to mobilize the first funding to support the noble idea.
Their efforts bore fruit in the same year, 2003, after registration of the Methodist Angel House Orphanage Home Tanzania Trust; and recruiting the first group of 28 children. They were accommodated in rented premises at Ronsoti Street in Tarime town. After nine years of operation, it was agreed that our partners in USA should register an organization under the name “Grass Roots - From the People, For the People, Inc.”, which it could work well in Tanzania if registered as an International NGO. It was subsequently decided to deregister the Angel House Orphanage Home Tanzania Trust and, instead, register an International NGO. Grass Roots - From the People, For the People, Inc. was then registered in Tanzania under the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Act No 24 of 2002 as an International NGO with registration number 00NGO/00005473 of 17th April 2012. The headquarters of this International NGO are in Ohio, USA, where it was duly registered as an NGO with Certificate number V201246F68CA 8 dated 17th February, 2012.
Though a number of commendable success stories were registered, in order to solve some burning operational challenges, such as the difficulty of an International NGO to own land in Tanzania, deliberate efforts were made to re-register the institution into a local NGO in Tanzania. The move culminated in the International NGO being registered as Angel House Children’s Home (AHCH) on 10th August 2021, with registration number 00NGO/R/2108.
Since the Institution’s inception in 2003 and the inevitable changes which it has gone through to the present Angel House Children’s Home, credit should go to the First United Methodist Church, Board Members of Grass Roots - From the People, For the People, Inc. and Dr Lisa Alvetro of Smiles of Hope, all from Ohio, in the United States of America, whose tireless collaboration with AHCH has made implementation of various projects sustainable over the years.
AHCH caters for orphaned and abandoned children. It endeavours to inculcate the sense of patriotism; imbue the role of members of the community, and promote talents, creativity and the team-work spirit among its local beneficiaries. It addresses methodically issues of unemployment, extreme poverty, insufficient health services and low quality of education within the community; and advocates economic development activities. Hitherto it boasts of, a pre-primary school, a primary school, a secondary school and runs a number of income generation projects to sustain its operations.
The identification procedure for the targeted orphaned and abandoned children involves the participation of the local community leadership. There is an established structure organized as a functioning ad hoc committee comprising of the AHCH Children’s Home and Human Resource Manager who chairs the Committee and the District Social Welfare Officer who is the Secretary of the Committee. Other members of the Committee include the two Christian religion leaders, one Islam religion leader, a representative of the District police office and a Village leader.
The function of the Committee is to identify children within the community who are orphans or abandoned, and ensure that all responsible parties are notified, consulted and sufficiently advised on the benefits of AHCH taking care of respective children. The AHCH department responsible thereafter guarantees protection of children at AHCH and implements programmes that are identified for their well-being and progress.
Our Core Values:
Professionalism and Objectivity (Excellence): – Teams and individuals are required to work by observing the appropriate basics of their relevant professions and human values. They must understand their key performance areas, their customers and their needs, their suppliers and their expectations and the targets set by them.
Integrity, Transparency and Credibility (God’s fear): – Individuals and teams ought to be God fearing characters who are transparent in all activities being carried out, especially on-going projects and financial expenditures in all operations. They must be able to portray that they can be trusted in performing their duties.
Commitment: – Trust is generated by commitment and therefore each individual is expected to be committed while performing one’s duties. This value is directly measured against the performance of children in their examinations and directly related to the performance of teachers.
Team-work Culture: – Groups of people must work together to achieve common objectives. Collaboration amongst team players is of paramount importance. Teams must discuss common barriers in achieving their goals. They must strive for a common understanding of what is expected of them.
Respect: – Employees are required to conduct themselves in an orderly, respectable and gently manner; refraining from the use of foul or obnoxious language in all communication. Observance of ethics in respective professions is requisite.
Our Vision Statement:
To have a transformed environment where orphans and abandoned children live at their fullest potential.
Our Mission Statement:
To provide parenting and both formal and informal education to orphans and abandoned children that will improve their lives and opportunities to bring lasting changes to their community.
AUDITING THE FINANCES AND PERFORMANCES
From its inception AHCH has been sensitive to proper management of its finances and its performance. As clearly indicated in Article 19 (5), one of the functions of the Board is to appoint the institution’s Auditors. The Board has all along effectively carried out this noble task and all appointed Auditors have added value to the business.
The listed Auditors hereunder have on different occasions carried out the auditing of the institutional accounts and its performance in several years:
WHY SHOULD ONE ASSOCIATE ONESELF WITH AHCH
If one joins ACH one can begin to make a difference to the world by assisting at least a child. The objectives of AHCH are built on the spiritual principle of “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth into the LORD and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17). The following objectives of AHCH enshrined in Article 9 of its constitution give an insight that AHCH endeavours to help the poor:
Promote a safe, secure and loving children’s home for orphaned and abandoned children
Promote moral and quality education to orphans and abandoned children
Empower the youth with vocational skills
Promote and improve access to sound health among the children and local community
Advocate economic development activities to the community.
“Admittedly, one of the major causes of poverty has been proved to be the insensivity to environmental issues within the community in Tarime district. One’s support, therefore, could be channelled through the institution’s sustenance of the environmental concerns with regard to the improvement of livelihood and poverty alleviation consequent upon environmental and climatic changes related activities, for instance the management of Utimbaru range escarpments and the Mara river wetlands sustainable land use.”
