Daniel Mpanduzi is the Founder and Director of The Voice School Trust in Tanzania. TVST comprises a secondary school based in Usa River township in Arusha, and also they run a weekend programme for children from the community who are from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students from TVST school help run the weekend programme, and the kids who attend receive help with homework, access to games, arts, crafts and fun activities, and they also receive a cooked meal each day, which for many of them is the only nutritious and reliable meal that they will receive.
Daniel set up TVST in response to his personal experience of seeing his sisters being unable to attend school simply because they were girls. As he trained to be a teacher and educator, he kept seeing the same pattern of men, including fathers and brothers, preventing the girls from being able to access education, and Daniel determined to do something to redress the balance.
TVST is a co-ed boarding school, which has a 2 girls : 1 boy enrollment policy, and also offers subsidised places to children with disabilities, and those from underprivileged backgrounds who might not otherwise be able to pursue their education. Daniel has done huge amounts to promote education for girls and for those with disabilities, and to try and move Tanzania closer to equal rights for all with regard to access for education
Recently, this pioneering work was recognised at the Tanzanian Sustainable Development Goal Awards event. The award is provided by Citi Bank to entrepreneurs who greatly contributed in attaining Sustainable Development Goals at their projects. SDG 4 is to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, and SDG 5 is to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. Daniel’s work in pioneering TVST means that he was deservedly one of those individuals recognised as worthy of the award, and he received a Certificate plus financial prize at a recent awards ceremony.
Our congratulations go to Daniel on this wonderful recognition of his work which has been so liberating for so many girls and disabled young people.
