Kiwodede Founder and Director, Mama Justa Mwaituka and Project Officer at the Buguruni centre, Mama Eddah, visited the
Although the trip was a personal holiday for Justa and Edda to catch up with old friends, they took time out to thank their supporters for their fundraising efforts over the past 6 years, helping to raise, to date, a phenomenal £60,000 for Kiwohede.
In an informal speech, Justa spoke of her experience in setting up the Tanzanian charity in 1995 following her degree and some of the difficulties she faced at the time. She could see there were girls working in prostitution in need of her help. In order to attract their attention, she dressed like them and pretended to tout for business on their territory. Once she got their attention, following initial negative remarks (“Hey lady, move over- this is my spot! What are you doing?!”), she gained their trust and was able to convince them that there was an alternative and invited them along to her centre which at this time was her family home.
When Justa started up the charity, she was working full time and increasingly had to sneak out of work for charity functions. She spoke of one day when she left work early without saying anything to her boss in order to meet with the prime minister. The next day she was in all the papers and when her boss confronted her she couldn’t deny it was the same Justa Mwaituka who worked for him….luckily he was very understanding!
Following media coverage and word-of-mouth, the charity took off and today has 22 centres in 10 districts throughout
During their recent trip, Justa and Edda visited Knutsford (where they stayed with the Browns), Manchester and
They are now safely back and warm in Tanzania and thank everybody for their hospitality!
