TANZANIA is the most politically stable country in East Africa and since independence in 1961 has not been subject to the wars and internal civil strife that have affected most of its neighbours.
The population is estimated to be 50 million, with at least 120 major tribal groups, which range from Zanzibari Arabs to Nilotic pastoralists, although the majority of people are of Bantu agriculturalist background. This cultural diversity and the stable nature of the country are among its greatest assets and underscore the healthy foundation for successful human and economic development.
Despite vast natural resources, a healthy tourist industry and huge agricultural potential, the economy remains fragile and largely underdeveloped. The Tanzanian economy is heavily based on agriculture, which accounts for 24.5% of gross domestic product, provides 85% of exports and employs 80% of the workforce. The GNI per capita is US $ 928 per year *. 60% of the population is without electricity and 40% without drinking water. 60% of the population survives with less than $ 2 a day. The geographical and climatic conditions limits the area cultivated to 4% of the territory, with 1.8 million hectares cultivated in the short rain season and 7 million hectares cultivated in the long rain season. Industry and construction contributing around 24% of GNI.
Life expectancy at birth is 61 years. Children are the most vulnerable class along with the elderly and women. The infant mortality rate under 5 years old is 52 per thousand births and the neonatal mortality rate (under the first year of life) is 36 births per thousand ** . The main diseases for infants and children under 5 years old are malaria, anemia, pneumonia and AIDS.
Registering children at birth is the first step in securing their recognition before the law, safeguarding their rights, and ensuring that any violation of these rights does not go unnoticed. Yet only 16% of children have been recorded**.

With regard to the education*** the primary net enrolment rate is 98% and the primary completion rate is 81%. Both of these indicators provide a sense of the progress the country is making towards universal primary education however the country has yet to achieve universal education.

Tanzania has embraced the Millenium Development Goals within its national Poverty Monitoring System since 2001 and has made considerable progress in achieving them. Despite important progress, efforts need to be accelerated to reduce maternal mortality, to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, to achieve greater gender equality, to improve the quality of the education and to cut extreme poverty by half.

WHERE WE WORK?
In the village Ngyani, in the MERU DISTRICT is one of the six districts in the Arusha region. It lies on the slopes of Mount Meru and it is bordered to the north-west and south-west by Monduli district, to the south-east by Arusha district and to the east by the Kilimanjaro region. The population is estimated to be 268,000. The district is administratively divided into 37 wards. The gross wage per inhabitant per year is Tshs. 950,000 which equates to $450. The top ten diseases among children under 5 yrs are ARI (37.2%), Pneumonia (31%). Skin diseases (8.9%), Intestinal worms (7.8%), Malaria (7.2%), Eye infections (6%) and Diarrhoea (5.8%), Ear diseases (3.2%) Injuries (2.1%) and fractures (0.6%).
 

* World Bank Data 2013
** UNICEF data 2014
*** Education policy and data center: Tanzania - National Education Profile 2014