News Blog

Sports ministry

The government of Tanzania has never put aside land for recreation activities in Sungwi villages (Kisarawe) and so most of the youth after school/work have nothing to get engaged in and so end up hanging by the roadside or get involved into activities that are dangerous totheir health such as smoking, drugs, gambling. With the land that True Grasses has secured for the construction of the school, we have set aside land for the community recreation activities where True Grasses will donate a football and football jerseys for the games. We are grateful to the family ‘Zandinga’, who donated the sportswear. The youth in the community have agreed to prepare the land and set up the field for the activities. This recreation piece of land will serve both the school for their sports activities as well as the community. As this was announced cheers went up and wondering who this was that would give land where the government has failed to do so. We are now raising funds to improve on the field, such as football poles, but also a set of swings for the younger ones in the community.

read more


Water well

In countless Kisarawe villages, there is little or no access to clean drinking water. Often getting to the nearest water source requires the villagers to walk several miles, followed by a return trip. Most villagers carry heavy buckets or plastic drums filled with water on their heads. Even then, that water may not be clean – it may come from lakes, ponds or rivers that are shared with animals or from hand dug wells that might be located near village latrines. Such water is often contaminated and can cause sickness and many villagers are dying as a result.

With water being one of the absolute necessities of life. Join True Grasses as they commit to helping bring clean water to needy villages in Kisarawe.

read more


De Noabershop

Last year, the Noabershop in Assen opened as the first of its kind in the Netherlands. This small but unique shop is part of a non-profit organization and is run by volunteers. Products offered are hand-crafted and made with passion by locals. The word 'Noaber' can be translated into 'neighbor' and represents the motto: We help each other. Visitors can come for a cup of coffee, to exchange books free of charge or just for a chat. On Fridays and Saturdays deliciaous Malaysian food and once a month breakfast are provided.

Supporters of True Grasses have rented a table where they offer homemade cards and a selection of gifts. Additionally you can purchase bags and jewelry from East Africa. This is one of the ways to collect money to sponsor the work of True Grasses and we are very gracious for this valuable support. Maybe this can be inspiration for you to consider how you could support the work of True Grasses in your own city.



Piggery project

This project is part of the Pwani Hope School project:

The aim of the project is to raise income for the school in order to ensure sustainability of school operations but also imparting knowledge and awareness to the villagers of proper rearing of pigs as a project of supporting their livelihood. The school will also use pig manure for generation of bio gas which will reduce school cocking costs and cut down carbon emissions and also providing natural manure for the crops of the school farm.

The amount needed for buying one piglet (including injections) is € 50.



Soroti Youth Carpentry Skilling Project

Through the partnership with True Grasses, OM Switzerland has been supporting the Soroti Carpentry Skilling Project in Uganda. We are grateful that they have supported the project with finances that was used to purchase carpentry tools to ease work at the workshop. Thanks to Ernst and his team, with their continued trust and heart to this project, the project now trains a couple of youth on hands-on skills and employs five people permanently.

 

 



Motorcycle

With the school project being in progress, True Grasses has been incurring a lot of costs in hiring transport and using local taxis for its work in Kisarawe villages and Dar es Salaam city. Now with the purchase of a motorcycle (piki piki), transport costs will be reduced by 50% for school construction supervision. Thanks again to our committed donor from the Netherlands who gave towards the project.

 

 



Piggery & Poultry

Community Builders Canada and Anhart Foundation Canada, through the Pay-it-Forward program gave True Grasses various micro credit grants to help the people in Kilimanjaro Region. Eric and Ernst were selected by the local church and both received two piglets each. Amba received a grant to enhance her poultry business. With this they will start a journey to self sufficiency as they create jobs for themselves and increase their household incomes. All will be monitored with the help of MCF church in Moshi. 

 



TG Kilimanjaro Office

Since 2014 True Grasses has been operating at a home office. As it is an NGO requirement to have an outside office, True Grasses has acquired two rooms that will function as the True Grasses office on the MCF church compound. The rooms needed renovations before being able to enter and this was made possible through the gifts that True Grasses Foundation in the Netherlands, CBG and Anhart Foundation gave to True Grasses. The offices are located on Shirimatunda - Arusha Road in Moshi Town. Now all country activities will be carried from out here. 

 

 



March Update

Last week True Grasses witnessed the site of the school being expanded with the purchase of more land where the proposed school will be build. Thanks to our donor that made this a reality. We were able to purchase 5 more acres of land that gives True Grasses enough land to carry out its activities as it empowers communities in Kisarawe villages.

Maize growing

The picture on the right shows a local villager clearing part of the school land before it is ready for maize planting this march. With the growing of maize, True Grasses gives locals employment on the farm and this activity has been realized from our donors in the Netherlands. Also with the growing of maize we already start the sustainability of the school, by providing feeds for the near future piggery project in Kisarawe and providing income for the project itself. 

read more


My story: Anna Ruth

I came to Tanzania when I was seven years old, grew up right here on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro and was raised in this beautiful country as a Missionary Kid. For 10 years I called Tanzania my home as it was physically my address and for many years after that I called Tanzania my home, as this was where my heart was. When I moved back to The Netherlands to pursue my university education and later work, I travelled several times back to various African countries visiting and volunteering. These journeys continued to pull me back to Africa.  

I served on international Christian ships for 4 ½ years and I always asked myself the question, where is it that God wants me to serve and live. I knew it was somewhere in the developing world and eventually came to the conclusion that my heart was in Africa and that it was there where I wanted to plant my roots. I asked God one question, why is it that I want to go back to East Africa, is it because I had such a good childhood and I want to go back to that. Or did I grow up in Tanzania, so that one day I could go back there? I finally came to the conclusion, that I was not chasing my childhood, but that East Africa was my future and God had been preparing me for that.

read more



We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.