History
Tanzatoto was founded in April 2002 to improve the living conditions of deaf children in Tanzania. Tanzatoto is an initiative of remedial educationalist Monique Bekker. She has been working since 1989 in providing assistance to deaf children in Tanzania. Monique was project leader of Tanzatoto from 2002 to 2007.
She graduated as a remedial educationalist at the University of Amsterdam. From her works she works in several third world countries, first in Africa. Since 1989 she has focused specifically on education for the deaf, both in Africa and in the Netherlands.
In her work she came to the conclusion that there was a need for a new approach. With current facilities less than 5% of the target is achieved. Tanzatoto focuses on the families of deaf children, more than 95% of whom currently receive no support at all. Tanzatoto wants to give parents the means and the opportunity to give their children a human being. Tanzatoto does this by teaching parents to communicate with their deaf child and by teaching them to stand up for their child’s rights. Tanzatoto started its activities in May 2003 in Tanzania.
Activities
Tanzatoto started a pilot at the Kilakala Unit for the Deaf in Morogoro in 2003. This location was chosen because the unit has a motivated staff that has already gained experience with activities aimed at parents. Tanzatoto’s activities are currently focused on the Morogoro area. In 2011, Tanzatoto supports three schools for deaf children in Morogoro, in 2015 there are five. Experiences gained in Morogoro will be shared with other schools targeting deaf children in Tanzania. The Ministry of Education plays a role in this knowledge exchange.