Tanzania has the largest animal population density of any country in the world. There are more animals per square mile of land in Tanzania than in any other country.
Tanzania is home to the famed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, with its summit at 19,340 feet (5,895 meters).
Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa. It is the size of two California states put together. Tanzania experiences some of the brightest moons in the world, often so bright that flashlights are not necessary for people to see at night.
Tanzania is divided roughly into thirds between people who practice folk religion, Christians, and Muslims. Most Muslims live on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.
Currently, the largest religious denomination in Tanzania are members of the Roman Catholic Church, followed by Protestant Christianity, Sunni Islam, and then Shia Islam.
Tanzania became independent from Great Britian in 1961. The country then elected Julius Nyerere a devoted Catholic as its first President. He went to daily Mass. He was able to do something that no other African leader could achieve. after independence, he kept the many tribes in Tanzania from fighting each other.
While the country was one of the poorest in the world when he retired from the presidency, it had a 90% literacy rate among its people. President Nyerere placed a huge priority on education. He insisted that the people of Tanzania stop speaking in their tribal languages and learn to speak either Swahili or English or both.
Although Tanzania currently has a 7% rate of economic growth, the country continues to face a variety of significant economic problems. In fact, “recent growth recorded was for the very few, leaving out the majority of the population from economic growth and greater national wealth”. Over 57.8% of the population in Tanzania live earn less than $1 a day. “2.8 million children fall below food poverty line.”
HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the country and many who suffer from the illness become too ill to work. Tragically, 1.3 million children in Tanzania are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Many of those orphans end up living on the street.
It is estimated that 437,500 Tanzanian children make the street their home. In additional to those orphaned, other children in Tanzania leave their homes because of child abuse, accusations of witchcraft, or being kicked out of their homes due to a lack of sufficient provisions for the whole family.
Literacy rate in Tanzania in 2015 was 67.8%. The country faces a number of challenges in its education system. There are some challenges (input, process and output) facing the declining of quality of education in public schools in Tanzania.
Quality is low in terms of inputs such as training of teachers, physical environment, learning materials, supervision and assessments.
Quality is low in terms of process such as relations between schools and community, school management, classroom instructions, curriculum and planning.
And finally, quality is low in terms of output. For instance, over 88% of pupils entering primary school leave with an examination score of less than 50%. This leads to a very low transition rate of students from primary schools to secondary schools.
Quality of education of children is critical everywhere in the world. But in Tanzania, and Musoma town in particular, it can mean the difference between grinding poverty and a chance in the new world economy. One child’s education can free a whole family from generations of hopelessness.
The Diocese of Musoma has a clear development statement that aims to empower and work with the community and its people to achieve integral and sustainable development so that each and every person’s life is improved. We believe that education is the way to effect meaningful permanent societal change for the better.
