Tanzania Education Fund

Empowering Students of Tanzania to Learn, Lead, and Thrive

The Tanzania Education Fund works to enrich the lives of young people better. TEF supports the development and success of the Margery Wolf Kuhn (MWK) Preschool, Primary, and Secondary Schools which serve the children of Eastern Tanzania.
The original name was Nianjema, or “Good Intentions” in Kiswahili. In 2021, the schools were renamed in honor of a benefactor and the aunt of the founder.
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Students Graduated and Moved Onto Higher Education
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Tanzanians Employed Each Year

 “It is a rewarding experience to watch the progress of MWK in meeting the secondary education needs of students in Tanzania.”

Edward M. Holland, TEF Founding Board Member, attorney and retired Virginia State Senator

 “MWK provides an innovative approach to education that provides students with the skills they need to succeed in higher education and as future leaders in Tanzania.”

Melissa Storm, Former TEF board member and Senior Research Analyst, Education, Human Development, and Workforce Division, American Institutes for Research

It is a joy to witness the transformation in the lives of the students of MWK.”

Colleen McCarthy, TEF Board Member, Resident Manager of the Washington, DC Catholic Worker House, and a lifelong friend of MWK School

Featured Donor

MWK students received their own textbooks for the first time through a grant from St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, Virginia. Before that, their experience was that of other Tanzanian students—sharing well-used textbooks or, in some cases, the teacher’s copy. Today, MWK students have their own books, to take home and keep.

St Mark has been a stalwart supporter of MWK schools and its students for 22 years, providing strategic support that allowed us to grow. When the need for scholarships to encourage more girls to enter and stay in school, when the teachers needed better science equipment, and when the library needed a way to ship books to Tanzania, St Mark was there.

During that time, the school has grown from 90 students to today’s more than 500 with 32 buildings on two campuses.

“The school could not have grown and flourished in the same way without the support of St Mark Parish”

Daphne Sloan, TEF Executive Director

Featured Volunteer

Sheila, a Danish volunteer, poses with other volunteers in bamboo hats

Sheila volunteered through Egaa School in Denmark. MWK and Egaa have a decade-long partnership that includes student and teacher exchanges, installation of solar energy, letter exchanges, and lasting friendships.

Sheila and her fellow volunteers became so involved in the mission of the school that they raised enough money among themselves to provide 4-year scholarships for 20 students they worked with because “even though they were not our students anymore, they were still our girls.”

“I had the best experience teaching at MWK Secondary School.”

Sheila Zibrandtsen, Danish volunteer