Friday, March 9, 2012

We Launched July 2011



                                                         Press Release


The Hassan Maajar Trust -to help end the shortage of school desks in the country

Dar es Salaam Monday, 11th July 2011: Today, The First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete launched a local non-profit organization, the Hassan Maajar Trust (“HMT”), whose aim is to initiate a massive campaign to raise, from the public, TZS 3 billion in the next two to three years, to be applied towards the purchase of school desks for public primary and secondary schools in order to improve the learning environment and eventually improve the quality of education in Tanzania.

Launching the Hassan Maajar Trust Brand, the First Lady said that the objectives of the Trust are timely as “it is the responsibility of our generation to ensure that never again will our children sit on the floor in their classrooms”.

Speaking at the press conference, the Chairperson of HMT, Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar, said, “the fundraising campaign, which is to run under the banner of “A Desk For Every Child” or “Dawati Kwa Kila Mtoto” in Kiswahili, will be held in Tanzania and in the United States of America. The initial fund raising event is planned to take place towards the end of this year and the event will be announced to the public three weeks in advance.”

The Trust has been named in honour of Hassan Shariff Maajar, who died tragically in a road accident in Mbabane, Swaziland in 2006. His family and friends founded the Trust in order to keep alive Hassan’s aspirations, which were to help the community that he lived in. The Trust is not for profit, non-partisan and non-religious with the sole purpose of helping to improve the learning environment in public schools in Tanzania.

The late Hassan was the son of Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, the Tanzanian Ambassador to the USA and her husband Shariff Hassan Maajar. Hassan was nearly 18 years old when he sadly passed away. He attended school at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa in Mbabane, Swaziland.

Hassan was a bright, vibrant and active young man who had a passion for sports and giving back to the community. He excelled at basketball and was his school’s basketball team captain at the time of his untimely demise. For his Social Responsibility Class he used to teach sports at a school for disabled children in Mbabane. This is what inspired his family and friends to establish the Trust in his memory.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training indicate that there is a deficit of about three million desks and chairs in our public schools. HMT believes that this shortage of school desks and chairs adversely affects the performance of our children.

Ambassador Maajar said,It is better to light a candle instead of complaining about the darkness” and continued that HMT was lighting a candle as it set out to campaign for ending shortage of school desks in Tanzania. The Chairperson further said, with the support of the public it would be possible to afford each child of this country a desk and a chair within two to three years.

“We expect that people from all walks of life will, through the HMT start to donate funds for school desks. The HMT website will be active soon with various options through which funds may be donated. There will be TV and other media options for donations and once arrangements are in place the public will be informed” said the Chairperson in her press release.

People are encouraged to donate things including clothes, domestic utensils, shoes, and children’s items, and books, while companies on the other hand, might want to donate items they make or their services.

HMT has established a charity shop at the Arcade Building Mikocheni where donated items will be sold to help pay for administration costs so that all donated funds go directly to the procurement of desks.

HMT Board has established a Fundraising Committee, which will be responsible for fundraising and to ensure that funds collected are remitted to the HMT, designated bank account and these will be used solely for the procurement of school desks and chairs.


-Ends-

For more information please visit, www.hassanmaajartrust.org

Or contact:
Fredrick Felix Njoka,
Public Relations Executive,
Aggrey&Clifford,
Tel: +255-772-131367



























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