Mission
Imuma Orphanage and Center for Vulnerable Children provides a safe place for the poorest children in the community of Bagamoyo, in Tanzania. Currently, Imuma houses 6 children overnight and 52 children daily. Imuma aims to provide at least 2 meals per day, skill development, education, and a safe haven for children suffering from sexual and domestic abuse.
History
The story of Imuma began in 2006 when 30 year-old Sharif Yusufu noticed that many children were spending their time at his local cinema instead of going to school. He would find children sleeping in the cinema at night, and when he discovered that many of these children had no food or shelter,Sharif began Imuma Orphanage.
Sharif had started the cinema to support his wife and two children. The cinema consisted of a small room with a thatched roof, and tickets cost 50 Tanzanian Shillings, or a little less than five cents. When Sharif realized that the same school-aged children were coming to the theater every day, he began to ask questions. Many of the children had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS or malaria. Some were the children of impoverished single women who had prostituted themselves for money. Often they were victims of sexual or domestic abuse, and the majority were malnourished. Sharif and his wife, Asha, expanded their family, welcoming these children into their home. With the help of friends and family, Imuma was born.
Over the years, Imuma has grown from those ten children to fifty-six children, only six of whom Sharif can afford to keep at Imuma full-time. The other fifty children come to Imuma during the day, where they are given food, education, and some lessons in painting and drumming. Unfortunately, these children often have to go home to grandparents who will give them shelter but no food, or worse, to homes where their mothers are prostituting themselves. Imuma achieved official NGO status in 2008, but remains unsupported by the government. Funding for Imuma is largely from Sharif and his friends' own pockets. Many of these donors also work at Imuma for no pay, teaching, cleaning, and cooking for the children.
Imuma is attempting to start some income generating activities. The children paint and make bracelets that Imuma sells from the orphanage, but the small shop is not on a main road nor is there money to pay for advertising.