A Look Back At 2017

It’s been quite the year for us. One of the biggest changes we experienced this past year is our new look.

Starting the year off as JBFC, we are now known as Mainsprings, with an entirely new look and feel to our organization. However, as always, we are still true to our namesake and mission of alleviating extreme rural poverty in Tanzania-one child, one community at a time.

But, the new look is not all that happened at Mainsprings this year. We are here to serve our children and communities, and so many exciting developments happened these past twelve months. As we close out this year, it’s hard to remember everything that has happened in Tanzania, but we would like to highlight a few accomplishments that YOU helped us achieve:

* We continued to have 100% pass rate on our 7th grade national exam

* We graduated our third class from secondary school

* We harvested of 36 TONS of fresh produce and built a wonderful new greenhouse on our flagship campus

* Our farm saw the births of and raised hundreds of chickens, pigs, sheep, and bunnies

* Our school continued to educate and feed 400 students daily

* Our clinic provided healthcare to more than 1,000 community members

* We established a permaculture program on our second campus

* We employed more than 80 East Africans

* We hosted 107 volunteers on our flagship campus

 * We continued to provide a loving home to more than 55 vulnerable girls

* And we supported 12 girls in higher education

As we look back, we are in awe at what is happening. This movement is truly changing the lives of thousands of individuals in Tanzania because of YOUR support.

We look forward to doing even more in 2018 and hope you have a very Happy New Year! We will see you next year…

A Successful First Year of Basketball

December 15th, 2017, is a big day for our organization- especially the young ballers on our Bibi Mimi’s Girls’ Home basketball team! The team, officially known as J-MOND, will celebrate its one-year anniversary on Friday. To mark the occasion- as well as all of the hard work, accomplishments, and successes that the girls have had this year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the inaugural season.

Sports are an extremely important part of childhood for many kids, and at Mainsprings we value sports as a way to keep our girls, staff, and students healthy and happy. Sports are also an important way to teach important life lessons about commitment, communication, cooperation, and discipline and they serve as a way to continue to mold young leaders. Basketball has long been a dream at Mainsprings, particularly so for our residential girls ever since we constructed basketball hoops and retrofitted them to our tennis court at the beginning of 2016. Since then, the girls have gone from learning the basics of dribbling a basketball in the girls’ home dining hall with volunteer Hannah Walter, to now producing some of the best young players in all of Mwanza region.

On December 15th, 2016, eighteen residential girls from Bibi Mimi’s Girls Home held their first official meeting to discuss adding basketball to the girls’ activities schedule. For roughly six months, the girls had been playing basketball on their new court and learning the basics of dribbling, passing, making layups, and playing defense. Exactly one year ago they decided to move from having a basketball “club” to creating an official basketball “team.” The girls created an exercise schedule, implemented team rules (attending and being on time to all practices, respecting each other, using good language, following rules, etc.), elected two captains (Vale and Getruda), and, most importantly, set goals for their young team.


The 2017 season- despite some challenges and painful losses at the beginning of the year- was a year full of accomplishments that the girls, and our whole community, should be proud of.  Some of these accomplishments include:

· Learning the fundamentals of basketball and learning what it means to be an athlete (teamwork, leadership, discipline, cooperation, respect)

· Setting a practice schedule, creating team rules, setting team goals, and playing dozens of games against the Joseph and Mary boys

· Competing in over 15 games in Mwanza

· Sending four girls- Vale, Nyamisi, Lau, and Neema- to a training camp at Orkeeswa Secondary School

· Sending the team’s assistant coach- Ms. Atamba- to the training camp at Orkeeswa Secondary School twice

While 2017 has been a great year for our fledgling basketball program, we fully expect 2018 to be even better. The girls and coaches have big hopes for the New Year. As a team, the girls have set the goal of being the top girls’ basketball team in Mwanza region in 2018, and in the top 10 best teams in the nation within five years.

Guest Blogger, Seth Diemond, is Mainsprings' COO in Tanzania and resident basketball fanatic.

Graduation 2017

Last Friday, Mainsprings and the Joseph and Mary Schools graduated its third class of Form 4 students. These 27 young men and women have now completed their O-Level secondary education and are now awaiting the results of their Form 4 national exams that will help determine where they will head in life.

Mainsprings' four graduating residential girls - Maggie, Julie, Martina, and Siwema

In honor of such a big accomplishment, our Kitongo campus hosted its second major graduation in as many months. As a final send off for our Form 4 graduates- many of whom have been on our campus and in our school for years- nearly 600 attendees came out to celebrate their successes. Joseph and Mary’s 400 students, our flagship campus' 70 person staff,  Mainsprings US-based staff-including CEO Chris Gates, Mainsprings Kahunda Director, Mr. Lyimo, and dozens of government officials and community members came together in honor of the 17 girls and 10 boys who walked across the stage and received their diplomas.

The Magu District Commissioner and several other government officials escorted the graduates as they marched from our central office building to the dining hall where staff, students, families, and community members patiently waited. Cutting the ribbon at the entrance, the District Commissioner officially kicked off the graduation and watched as the graduates danced their way past the invited guests and to their seats.

Just as with our 7^th grade graduation in October, our third Form 4 graduation was filled with original entertainment from Joseph and Mary students who used the day to showcase what they have learned in school. Primary School students created skits depicting the history of Tanzania’s past and present political leaders, presented about different science subjects, and performed original songs wishing the graduates off well. Joseph and Mary Secondary School students performed a graduation-themed remix to Jay-Z’s “Forever Young” as well as a wonderful performance of Empire’s “Powerful” by residential girls Happy, Leticia, Zai, and Neema Daniel. A group of secondary students- led by our lab technician Mr. Mikela- made (and subsequently marketed) soaps and perfumes that they had learned how to make in their science class.

As with any major ceremony, our class of 2017 was showered with advice from a host of speakers.  Ms. Atamba, one of our school managers, gave a speech about the history of our organization, how far the students had come and how far they still have to go, as well as our school’s emphasis on co-curricular activities. Athumani and Maggie addressed the graduates and guests on behalf of the whole class and expressed their collective gratitude for the education they received through our many programs- both in and out of the classroom. Athumani, one of our scholarship students, talked about how much Mainsprings, and especially Mr. Samo, has done to empower him. Our Guest of Honor- District Commissioner Hadijah R. Nyembo- spoke to the importance of using their education to empower themselves and their communities as well as to her appreciation to the cooperation between Mainsprings and the Tanzanian government.

The highlight of the day, as always, was the handing out of certificates and diplomas. First, the Office of Student Development handed out superlative awards to various students for accomplishments in leadership, sports and games, cleanliness, arts and music, etc. Mr. Kidapanda then handed out awards for students who excelled in the various subjects taught at Joseph and Mary. Finally, the District Commissioner- who serves as a Mayor to Magu District- handed out the graduates’ diplomas as they each took a turn walking across the stage, shaking hands, and being recognized by all of the guests in attendance.

As a final celebration, all of the guests were treated to a community lunch of rice, pilau, friend chicken, beef stew, fruits, vegetables and soda. Congratulations to the Class of 2017! We are so proud of you!