Virtues for Holistic Child Development in Tanzania

This is great news! The Tanzanian government has recently acted to prohibit beating of children in pre-schools through grade three. An amazing step forward!. However, implementation of this prohibition leaves a vacuum. How will teachers establish discipline? This is where you come in! 

Your gift to The Virtues ProjectTM (TVP) in Tanzania enables Bright Jamii Initiative (BJI) to develop and promote a comprehensive program of child protection. As an organizational entity, BJI adds legitimacy, influence, and effectiveness to the work of advocating for eliminating corporal punishment altogether, introducing TVP as an effective alternative to beating, and exploring means to incorporate virtues practices into the school system.

You are truly making an impact through BJI/TVP as it has gained traction over the past few months.

There have been a number of national dialogues recently among government ministries and other local and international organizations in Tanzania about women and child protection. When these dialogues explored the implementation and effectiveness of different approaches, BJI was able to demonstrate how TVP in Tanzania works to foster self-discipline to replace corporal punishment in schools. BJI was also invited to share more about the Virtues Project in positive parenting and safe school thematic groups. BJI expertise was acknowledged in an invitation to present TVP at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), further extending awareness of TVP. 

BJI/TVP conducted 3-day training for a group of volunteers and interns who will be leading a Dar es Salaam city pilot project to develop exemplary schools and demonstrate the impact of Virtues Project for MoEST and other stakeholders. 

To ensure efficiency and effectiveness of its operations, gain credibility, and influence the legal framework surrounding child protection, BJI has established an office to provide a base of operations where meetings, trainings and systematic planning and reflections can be done.

With your ongoing support, BJI/TVP plans for the next quarter are to 1) introduce Virtues Project to District Women and Children Protection Committees (WCPCs), which are local coordinators of the national initiative; 2) recruit recruit daycares, preschools and primary schools to implement TVP and evaluate its impact; 3) reach into new schools by conducting TVP training for at least 100 teachers/support staff across 20 schools; 4) continue to accompany 5 existing schools with their implementation of TVP, mentoring teachers and identifying potential facilitators who can be trained in each school; 5) organize teacher/parent-guardian conferences (1 per school) to introduce 500 parents/guardians in TVP and the parents’ role in supporting it and how they can adopt it at home.