Our Daycare
Our Tiny Steps Daycare opened in August 2024 and offers loving care for children aged 6 months to three years. Together with the youth welfare office and the village council, we identify families in need in the district of Lemara, Arusha. The childcare is completely free of charge for the families, as the daycare is financed by monthly sponsors, our partner organization STEP Africa and one-off donations from our friends and supporters.
In our daycare, playing, learning through play and a respectful and child-friendly approach are our top priorities. We want to raise our children to be self-confident and happy individuals and offer them a future full of prospects. For this reason, a sponsorship program was launched in cooperation with our partner organization Mabawa Tanzania, which continues to accompany and support the children throughout their time at school and further education.
Together with our wonderful daycare staff and volunteers, we work hard to give our children the best possible start and thus lighten the burden on their families.
In Tanzania, children often sit in the classroom from an early age. However, our approach focuses on learning through play. Our teacher Mwajuma is a trained Montessori educator and together with the whole team we try to incorporate the Montessori idea into everyday life. Play and discovery are at the forefront of our concept, because sitting at a desk starts early enough for the children anyway.
Our Partner for Tiny Steps is the Austrian Organization Mabawa Tanzania: www.mabawatanzania.com
What it’s all about…
We welcome visitors, supporters and volunteers, because everyone is an asset to our facility. Our teachers and moms welcome everyone with open arms.
We also want our families to be confident that their children are in the very best hands with us, to trust us with the care of their children and to be comfortable turning to us at any time with questions, worries and concerns.
Tiny Steps is located in the district of Lemara, Arusha. Lemara is a low-income district and many families live below the poverty line. Many of our children have only one parent, live with other relatives or have parents who earn a living as day laborers.
Life is deprived enough, so families should not have to worry about the safety and well-being of their children.
Childcare in Tanzania
In Tanzania, public schooling / childcare is only offered from the 1st grade, in rare cases for children from the age of 5, who are prepared for school entry in a public pre-school. The lack of childcare for children under the age of three is particularly alarming.
There are many private crèches in Tanzania that offer childcare for babies and toddlers for a monthly charge. However, only the middle and upper classes can afford this care. Millions of families from low-income backgrounds, especially single parents, are therefore faced with a dilemma. There is a lack of free or affordable childcare for their children, but without it they have no way of earning an income. Due to a lack of alternatives, many families drift even deeper into poverty with their children or are forced to leave their children at home alone or under the loose supervision of neighbors. This is not a solution, as it poses a massive risk, especially for very young children.
Tiny Steps Daycare also offers free childcare places for the very youngest children in Arusha, providing their families with a massive relief. In addition to the above-mentioned risk of child endangerment, it is sadly commonplace in Tanzania for families affected by poverty to leave their children in orphanages due to a lack of alternatives. We do not want to support this development under any circumstances, because a child who has a loving family belongs there alone – and poverty should not change this fact.
The Tiny Steps – Team
Meet our wonderful daycare staff!
Mwajuma
Montessori Teacher / Care Giver
Einoth
Teacher / Care Giver
Pendo
Cook and Cleaner
10 Facts about Tiny Steps
1. Tiny Steps Daycare is a program under the NGO L.I.F.E., which was founded in 2024.
2. The Tiny Steps Daycare is located in Lemara, Arusha, one of the biggest cities of Tanzania and the biggest in the North of the country.
3. All members of L.I.F.E. are also part of the volunteer organization STEP Africa, which is the main sponsor of Tiny Steps Daycare covering numerous running costs alongside the sponsors and supporters.
4. Tiny Steps Daycare currently employs two teachers / educators, a cook / cleaner and several STEP volunteers.
5. In Tanzania there are no public crèches for children under the age of three. Many families from vulnerable backgrounds cannot afford private daycares and parents have no opportunity to work or have to leave their children under the loose supervision of neighbors, where the children are not always safe. Tiny Steps is a free daycare and thus gives families from vulnerable backgrounds a perspective.
6. A daycare like Tiny Steps offers an alternative to caring for children in orphanages. Many of the children living in Tanzania’s orphanages actually have a family, but were left there in the hope of offering them better opportunities for the future. We believe that children belong in families.
7. We have permission from the social welfare office to care for up to 30 children. However, there are currently only 13 children, as the building is still being renovated and we want to ensure that we can accommodate all children before accepting new ones.
8. Although Tanzania’s Daycares start with classic teaching at a very early age, we want to apply the “learning through play” approach and encourage the children in a playful way.
9. The youngest children at Tiny Steps are currently 8 months old, the oldest 2 1/2 years old.
10. The children are being supported by sponsors. The sponsorship helps with the running costs of the daycare and allows the children to attend an English Medium Pre- and Primary School ones they reach the age of 3 1/2.
Sponsorship Program
- Become a sponsor and give a child a future full of prospects
- Our sponsors receive regular updates about “their” children
- The sponsorship provides support for the children throughout their education
