MOA invites you for a Potluck Breakfast on March 16 @ 9:00 AM where Dr. Pam Follett will share updates from the Wezesha Kupaa Mission.
Click here to let us know you’re coming.
Wezesha Kupaa (Swahili for Enable to Fly), is a medical, social, and educational outreach for children with disabilities in rural Tanzania, located at the YWAM-Mwandege Mission Base about 25km south of Dar es Salaam. The YWAM Mission Base includes Uzima Medical Clinic, Outreach Teams, and DaySpring Academy, that work in partnership with Wezesha Kupaa to provide children with disabilities in remote coastal regions of Tanzania better access to specialized health care and increased educational opportunities.
Updates from Tanzania, submitted by Dr. Pam Follett
It is a very challenging time for Tanzania. The combination of the pandemic, which shut down tourism and generated a catastrophic economic burden, and the conflict in Ukraine, which severely impacted food distribution and cost, is having a long, disruptive tail in a country whose pre-existing infrastructure and social support system were already minimal. Children with disabilities were marginalized and struggling before 2020, back when the health, education, and social support systems were stronger and less stressed than they are at the moment. What does this mean? That Wezesha Kupaa has plenty to do!
Highlights from my visit in December:
- The newly constructed DaySpring Secondary School successfully met government requirements for registration in December 2023. First year students began classes in January 2024.
- Expansion of integrated classroom for children with physical disabilities at DaySpring Preschool.
- A new Special Needs Classroom for children who require a more individualized program.
- Home of Hope continues to support children (with their mothers) from across Tanzania who have no safe place to stay while they are receiving surgical care at the referral center in Dar es Salaam.
- Uzima Medical Clinic priority toward comprehensive health care is targeting ways to improve access to health services in rural communities for people with disabilities.
- Initial visits to two remote villages identified 16 children and young adults affected by debilitating conditions, including seizures, with no medical care. Outreach including appropriate advice and medication is facilitating better health and more inclusion in activities, school, and employment.
