About us

PAMoja INAwezekana = PAMINA - together everything is possible!

PAMINA is a charitable nonprofit association working to help women and children living with difficult conditions in Tanzania through improvement of their health conditions, their education, as well as their human and economic development. To improve the life conditions of those people in difficulties, PAMINA is active in collecting financial contributions for various projects of education, fresh water supply and solar energy. 

Water is the source for life, education is necessary to improve life conditions and energy is necessary for these two basic things. 

Each amount given to our association in any form will be completely used for our actual projects, without deduction for charges.

We are a group of friends wanting to improve the life conditions of the marginalized people in Tanzania. Each one of us has spent some time in this wonderful country and thus has enjoyed the generous hospitality of the Tanzanian people. But we have also seen the poor conditions of many Tanzanians, especially the marginalized. 

Our contacts with the Spiritans have made it possible to start to help the marginalized in Tanzania. The church is contributing enormously trough building schools and dispensaries in Tanzania. 

For a start we support several projects of the Spiritans in Tanzania, but as we go along, we remain open-minded for any kind of project improving the life conditions of the marginalized in Tanzania.

One cannot improve the world alone, but as a team we can join our talents and energy and thus multiply the possibilities to do some good. This was the leitmotiv to create PAMINA. 

We are:

  • Christina Kratz – Chairperson
  • Danielle Gaudichau – Bursar
  • Etienne Piémont – Secretary
  • Gérard Lefèvre – Vice Chairperson
  • Brigitte Thiry – member
  • Jocelyne Morand – member

THE SPIRITAINS (the Holy Ghost Fathers)

The Spiritans (or Holy Ghost Fathers) are a Roman Catholic congregation founded in France in 1703 for evangelization of the poor. We count the following as constitutive parts of our mission of evangelization: the “integral liberation” of people, action for justice and peace and participation in development. We therefore make ourselves the advocates, the supporters and the defenders of the weak and the little ones against all who oppress them ( Spiritain Rule of life No. 14). Our Congregation is present on all continents, especially in Africa. Spiritains in Tanzania are involved in many diverse ministries including Evangelization, education, health care, parish work and refugee ministry. In Tanzania the Spiritains Provincialate (head office) is located at Tengeru P. O Box 3495 Duluti. The Spiritain Provincialate has already built and is running several schools including, Marian Girls, Marian Boys, Marian Primary in Bagamoyo, Tengeru boys in Arusha, and Libermann Secondary school in Dar-es-Salaam. 

Spiritains fight for the complete and integral liberation of mankind. To achieve that goal, education is our priority. Quality and relevant education is the only help and a solution towards poverty eradication in our developing country. We are convinced that everybody should have a chance to improve his/her living conditions. This cannot happen without a good education, which will give him/her a voice to express him/herself, and play a role in improving the economy of the community and the country at large.

TANZANIA

Tanzania officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south; and the Indian Ocean to the east. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.

The name “Tanzania” was created as a clipped compound of the names of the two states that unified to create the country: Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
The name “Tanganyika” is derived from the Swahili words tanga (“sail”) and nyika (“uninhabited plain”, “wilderness”), creating the phrase “sail in the wilderness”. It is sometimes understood as a reference to Lake Tanganyika.
 
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. Tanzania’s population of 60 million (2019) is diverse, composed of several ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Tanzania is a presidential constitutional republic, and since 1996, its official capital has been Dodoma, where the President’s Office, the National Assembly, and some government ministries are located. Dar es Salaam, the former capital, retains most government offices and is the country’s largest city, principal port, and leading commercial center.
 
Tanzania is a one-party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in power. From its formation until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. This changed on 1 July 1992, when amendments to the Constitution and several laws permitting and regulating the formation and operations of more than one political party were enacted by the National Assembly. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats were last held in October 2010. The CCM holds approximately 75% of the seats in the assembly.
In October 2015,  John Pombe Magufuli won the presidential election, securing a two-thirds majority in parliament. He was re-elected in Oktober 2020. After his death in March 2021, the Vice-President Samia Suluhu took over the presidency.
 
From 2009 through 2013, Tanzania’s per capita GDP (based on constant local currency) grew an average of 3.5% per year, higher than any other member of the East African Community (EAC) and exceeded by only nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Tanzania weathered the Great Recession, which began in late 2008 or early 2009, relatively well. Strong gold prices, bolstering the country’s mining industry, and Tanzania’s poor integration into global markets helped to insulate the country from the downturn. Since the recession ended, the Tanzanian economy has expanded rapidly thanks to strong tourism, telecommunications, and banking sectors.
According to the United Nations Development Program, however, recent growth in the national economy has benefited only the “very few”, leaving out the majority of the population. Tanzania’s 2013 Global Hunger Index was worse than any other country in the EAC except Burundi. The proportion of persons who were undernourished in 2010–12 was also worse than any other EAC country except Burundi.
 
You can learn more about Tanzania on Wikipedia.