TOUCO Means “Love in Action”
Tanzania Orphans Upendo Community (TOUCO) is a non-profit organization aimed at bringing abundant life for Tanzania Orphans Upendo Community (TOUCO) is a non-profit organization aimed at bringing abundant life opportunities to orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania. Guided by Christ’s commandment to love and care for the needy, TOUCO intends to facilitate community orphan care crisis awareness through the formation of Familia Upendo and Upendo Villages as basic alternative orphan care units to the biological extended families who are currently overwhelmed by the magnitude of the orphan care crisis in Tanzania and Africa at large.
Villages, districts, regions, and countries can easily adapt this TOUCO model to raise orphans in a safe and loving environment. The model weaves pertinent African traditions and customs into caring for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) within a broad spectrum of African cultures. Though initially capital intensive, the model matures as inexpensive and appropriate within the African rural context.
Upendo is a Kiswahili word which means ‘charity/love’
TOUCO intends to facilitate community leadership awareness of the orphan care crisis, especially in Tanzania, where in a population of just 45 million, there are 3.5 million orphans under the age of 15. A relevant model should address the quantitative magnitude of the crisis, including but not limited to the social, economic, political, and environmental challenges facing our societies. These crises call for a model that is both sustainable and resilient as it garners local and international support in caring for orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania and Africa, always bearing in mind that African and Tanzanian problems require African or Tanzanian solutions. The adage ‘African problems, European Answers’ must be seen as obsolete and, at times, outright counterproductive.
Helping the Neediest Children
Only children between 3 and 12 who have lost their mother, father, elder siblings, or close relatives or are living with a helpless grandma are eligible for Upendo care. The Upendo family takes care of the destitute children in our communities, and we work with the village governments to identify these children and ensure that the village communities know what is going on with their child or children in the Upendo family. The village OVC committees are stakeholders in the TOUCO project.
We help Africans take care of their own needs. We don’t give them welfare. We give them self-reliance.
Matrons Recruitment
Usually, women who are widowed, single moms, or never married, between the ages of 24 and 55, and don’t have more than two of their children are the ones being recruited through direct persuasion or village leadership. They currently have no fixed wages but are assisted just like the orphans. These women are advised to be permanent matrons but can serve for several years and leave. When we have a constant source of income, they will have a fixed monthly allowance to motivate and retain them for the task.
Sources of Upendo Family Support
The primary source has always been self-reliance. The land is cultivated; we keep chickens and whatever can be raised to support the necessities of life. As for clothing and building, support from people of goodwill has been very important. Health and education costs have been challenges. Elementary education is government subsidized, but secondary education is not and is quite expensive ( 400 $ US per year min.). We currently have no external funding source for this project; We build as we go.