• Link to Facebook
  • Link to X
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
  • Donate
  • Register Now
  • Contact Us
  • Volunteer Portal
  • e-Catalog
Call Us: 800-487-1074
Global Volunteers
  • Countries
    • International Partnerships
      • China
      • Cook Islands
      • Cuba
      • Greece
      • Italy (Sicily)
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Peru
      • Poland
      • St Lucia
      • Tanzania
      • Vietnam
    • USA Programs
      • Aguada – Puerto Rico
      • Blackfeet Reservation – Montana
      • Rio Grande Valley – Texas
  • Groups
      • Corporate Volunteers
      • College Student Volunteers
      • High School Student Volunteers
      • Professional Assocation Volunteers
  • Individuals
      • Retiree Volunteer
      • Solo Traveler Volunteer
      • Family Volunteers
      • Professional Volunteer
  • Projects
    • Community Work Projects
      • Delivering Essential Services
      • Teaching Conversational English
      • Supporting Community Development
      • Supplementing School-Based Curricula
      • View All Community Work Projects
  • Dates & Fees
    • Seasonal
      • Spring
      • Summer
      • Fall
      • Winter
    • Monthly
      • January
      • February
      • March
      • April
      • May
      • June
      • July
      • August
      • September
      • October
      • November
      • December
      • All Service Program Dates
  • Impact
      • How we Measure Impact
      • The Power of Giving Impact
      • One Child at a Time
      • RCP Program Documentary Film
      • Tanzania Food & Nutrition Center’s Impact Evaluation
      • ORG in Action
  • Support
    • Donation Opportunities
      • Donate Now
      • Changemakers Club – Monthly
      • Gift Catalog
      • Matching Gifts
      • More Ways to Give
    • Foundation Opportunities
      • Funding Opportunities for Philanthropic Partners
  • News
  • Request Information
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Donate
  • Gift Catalog
  • Register Now
  • Contact Us
  • –
  • Countries
    • International Partnerships
      • China
      • Cook Islands
      • Cuba
      • Greece
      • Italy (Sicily)
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Peru
      • Poland
      • St Lucia
      • Tanzania
      • Vietnam
    • USA Programs
      • Aguada – Puerto Rico
      • Blackfeet Reservation – Montana
      • Rio Grande Valley – Texas
  • Groups
    • Corporate Volunteers
    • College Student Volunteers
    • High School Student Volunteers
    • Professional Assocation Volunteers
  • Individuals
    • Retiree Volunteer
    • Solo Traveler Volunteer
    • Family Volunteers
    • Professional Volunteer
  • Projects
    • Delivering Essential Services
    • Teaching Conversational English
    • Supporting Community Development
    • Supplementing School-Based Curricula
    • View All Community Work Projects
  • Dates & Fees
    • Seasonal
      • Spring
      • Summer
      • Fall
      • Winter
    • Monthly
      • January
      • February
      • March
      • April
      • May
      • June
      • July
      • August
      • September
      • October
      • November
      • December
    • All Service Program Dates
  • Impact
    • How we Measure Impact
    • The Power of Giving Impact
    • One Child at a Time
    • RCP Program Documentary Film
    • Tanzania Food & Nutrition Center’s Impact Evaluation
    • ORG in Action
  • Support
    • Donate Now
    • Changemakers Club – Monthly
    • Gift Catalog
    • Matching Gifts
    • More Ways to Give
    • Funding Opportunities for Philanthropic Partners
  • News
  • Request Information
  • e-Catalog
  • Volunteer Portal
Reaching Children's Potential Tanzania

International Community Development Profile: Agness Tula Family in Tanzania

In this series, families in the Reaching Children’s Potential (RCP) Demonstration Program in Tanzania explain how their participation improves their lives. Global Volunteers’ RCP Program engages short-term volunteers to help parents deliver essential services improving health, eradicating hunger, and enhancing cognition – with the goal of eliminating child stunting in the Ukwega Ward and throughout Tanzania. Through RCP, families obtain the nutrition, health care, knowledge, technology, and encouragement needed to combat stunting, and to ensure their children can realize their full potential. The RCP Program is a child-focused, parent-driven, family-centered, and community-led comprehensive effort. It begins with pregnancy, and continues through the 18th birthday, with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life. Read on for Agness Tula‘s interview about the RCP Program.


Agness: What can you tell us about your life in Ipalamwa? Were you born and raised here? Did you attend school in the village?

My husband Neto Makongwa and I were born and raised here in Ipalamwa and we had our primary education at Fikano Primary school. My husband is the one who is supporting me in everything. We have six children together. Our oldest son, Halodi Makongwa, is 20 years old and lives in Dar with one of my relatives. My second son, Rashid Makongwa is 15 years old and just completed standard 7 (Grade 7). My oldest daughter, Happy Makongwa, is 14 years old and is in form one at Ukwega Secondary School. Another son, Stephano Makongwa, is 12 years old and is in standard (grade) 4. My second daughter, Anna Makongwa, is 10 years old and is in standard (grade) 2. My baby, Meshack Makongwa, is one years and two months.

My oldest children are hard workers, they love sports and studying. Nowadays the ones who are at the primary school have become more active since they started to receive the Rise Against Hunger (RAH) meals. Their performance is also good, and I hope they will keep on being that way. I wish my children could reach to the higher levels of education and be better people who will help me when I’m old. I am working hard to make sure I provide for all the needs my children have. Challenges are always present, but as parents we usually make sure that everything is on point especially on the matter of food to the family. We farm together, and we grow beans and corns and other crops like sweet potatoes, yams and vegetables.

Agness with three of her children outside her home in Ipalamwa, Tanzania, says: “When I look at my family, I feel proud and peaceful.”

What have you learned from the RCP Program?

Since I joined RCP in September, 2018, I have learned so much like how to get rid of diseases such as diarrhea and coughing. For instance, at a workshop I was taught how to treat a cough using the steam of the Eucalyptus leaves. Since I treated my child this way, he is no longer suffering from coughing. I’m always ready to leave all other activities when I hear about the workshops. Home visits too are important to me because we are reminded of the things that we are supposed to do. The way my last child, Mashack, is growing is very different from other children that I have. I was raising the previous ones without great knowledge that we have now. In that matter, I find that my baby is growing very well compared to others.

“I find that my baby is growing very well compared to others. I thank God that the program has come to our village.”

Agness Tula

I thank God that the program has come to our village. Our lives have been assured to some extent because we can get great health services quickly. Formerly, we were just thinking of going to Iringa for the birth of our children, which was very costly and high-risk, because most babies were delivered on the way, and sometimes mothers or babies die. But since the program is here, we are benefiting from a lot of services and for free. The services are great at the Ipalamwa General Clinic (IGC). Even in Iringa, where we usually pay money, there are no great services as here. The reception is also the best and the clinic have the professionals which is also a benefit. Whenever I go to IGC, I feel comfortable and satisfied with their services.

Agness’ daughter, Happy Makongwa, uses the hand-washing station outside her family home frequently each day.

How important is the hand-washing station in your everyday life?

We have got a lot of advantages from the hand-washing workshop and hand-washing station because formerly we didn’t consider the importance of hand washing, which resulted in the attack of diseases like coughing, fungus, diarrhea and stomach fever. When I attended the workshop, I learned that we were supposed to be washing our hands after many activities. Now I know it works because as soon as we started to practice, the rate of diseases went down.

Now I use the hand-washing station after coming from the bathroom, after changing my baby’s diapers and before/after eating and cooking. At the beginning, it was difficult because we were not used to the behavior of washing hands regularly. It was also difficult to train my children, but I kept on insisting them to do it for their health. Now it has become a habit of the whole house, and everyone knows to wash hands frequently.

“I pray for the coronavirus to end so that we can receive more volunteers!“

Agness Tula

How important are the Rise Against Hunger (RAH) meals to your family?

The meals are very important to us because first of all they reduce hunger. My baby is usually full and his weight keeps on increasing. As soon as he started to eat that food, he became healthy and active all the time. Meshack loves the meals and ugali so much! I always add salt and oil in the meals and we usually eat with beans or vegetables. We also eat cooked bananas, potatoes, beans, vegetables every day and fruits like avocados and banana. All of my children are not picky so they eat everything that we are providing. The RAH meals have been impacting me so much because I have been experiencing the heavy flow of enough breast milk.

Donate to the RCP Program
Daughters Happy and Anna are hard workers at home, says mother Agness.

What are you most proud of in your family?  What do you hope for in the future?

I feel very happy and peaceful whenever I see my family. They have been very helpful to me in so many ways and I hope they will still be in the future. In few years to come, we have a plan of building another house since the one that we have now is small compared to the number of my family members. But for now, I am satisfied and I look forward to learning more about caring for my family. I love everything about the RCP Program, and I wish I had joined the program since the beginning when it started. I benefit from the volunteers who usually come and present the workshops. They have been very helpful. I pray for the coronavirus to end so that we can receive more volunteers!


To learn about the RCP Program and families in the Ukwega Ward, choose from the archive here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
July 10, 2020/by Michele Gran
https://globalvolunteers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Agness-feature-photo-cropped.jpg 502 1035 Michele Gran https://globalvolunteers.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2014-GlobalVolunteersLogo-Web.png Michele Gran2020-07-10 11:58:002021-02-11 08:36:53International Community Development Profile: Agness Tula Family in Tanzania
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Partner Communities

  • China (62)
  • Cook Islands (46)
  • Cuba (119)
  • Greece (75)
  • Italy (59)
  • Malaysia (3)
  • Montana (56)
  • Nepal (22)
  • Peru (120)
  • Poland (97)
  • Puerto Rico (5)
  • St Lucia (62)
  • Tanzania (252)
  • Texas (7)
  • Vietnam (33)

Categories

  • Classroom Assistance (13)
  • Conversational English (97)
  • Cultures and Traditions (125)
  • Development Impact (122)
  • Family Volunteering (54)
  • Free Time Options (63)
  • Group Volunteering (18)
  • Mental Health Projects (14)
  • News and Updates (144)
  • Partners' Stories (18)
  • Projects for Professionals (24)
  • Reaching Children's Potential (246)
  • Ripple Effect (7)
  • Service-Learning (50)
  • Staff Worldwide (27)
  • Volunteer Voices (618)
  • Why I Give (18)

Tags

American Indian culture Care for children Caribbean island College groups Conversational English Cook Islands Volunteer vacaion Cook Island Volunteers Cuba people-to-people Cuba volunteering programs Earthbox gardens Essential Services family volunteer abroad family volunters food insecurity Funding your fee gender equality Health and nutrition healthcare High school groups Island volunteers Labor projects live together in peace nursing retiree volunteers Spring break students volunteer student volunteer summer volunteer program support children Support women teaching children teaching english team leader volunteer volunteer abroad volunteer benefits Volunteer impact volunteer in Cuba volunteer in the Cook Islands volunteer vacation volunteer with seniors wage peace work on reservations Work with youth youth volunteering

Get Global Volunteers News Here!

Enter your email address to receive fresh new posts in your inbox.

  • About Us
  • Boards of Directors and Advisors
  • US and International Staff
  • Our Beginnings
  • Our Vision
  • Community Partners
  • Collaborators
  • Compare Us
  • Impact and Outcomes of Service
  • Donate to Global Volunteers
  • DEIB policy
  • Your Service Program Contribution
  • Discounts & Fundraising
  • Alumni Center
  • Volunteer Vacation FAQs
  • News/Media
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Agreements and Accountability
  • Travel Risks
  • Site Map
  • Volunteer Portal
  • Employment
Global Volunteers
375 East Little Canada Road
St. Paul, MN 55117-1628 USA
(800) 487-1074 | toll-free
(651) 482-0915 | fax
globalvolunteers.org
email@globalvolunteers.org
Federal EIN: 36-3352680

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST!

Subscribe to receive updates, new blog posts, and inspiring stories from our work around the world.

Global Volunteers - Partners in Development ® | © Copyright 2002 - Present Global Volunteers
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to X
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
  • Global Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization. Our tax ID is 36-3352680. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent provided by the law.
  • Send feedback about this web site and its administration.
Link to: Partnership is Fundamental to Development, Says Tanzania Host Partner Link to: Partnership is Fundamental to Development, Says Tanzania Host Partner Partnership is Fundamental to Development, Says Tanzania Host Partner Link to: Worldwide Efforts Toward Zero Hunger – An Overview Link to: Worldwide Efforts Toward Zero Hunger – An Overview Worldwide Efforts Toward Zero Hunger – An Overview
Scroll to top