Tanzania
The Need
CIA Data (2018) ranks Tanzania as 6th in the world for highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate. Schoolgirls are at an increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS when forced to walk great distances to school or attend school in where society does not value them as equals to their male counterpart. Still, many girls desperately want an education so that they can create better lives for themselves and their families. After several years of visiting and working with women and girls in Tanzania through graduate work, one of our board members conducted research and found that a potential “solution” to barriers faced in accessing education could be construction of a private boarding school for girls. This way, barriers girls face (walking to school, harassment by male teachers and male students) could be prevented.
The Vision and Goal
We want to see hope, redemption, and transformation take place in this island district of Tanzania, located within Lake Victoria. The vision for Tumaini Jipya {New Hope} Secondary Girls’ School is that every pupil has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, free of abuse and injustice, in a Christ honoring atmosphere that allows them to thrive. We long for these girls to know that they are deeply loved and were created by God for a purpose. Together with trusted partners and local community leaders, ROCK committed to help open this girls’ school in an effort to shine the light of the gospel into their lives; ROCK is excited to continue to be a channel for the funds that will make the school sustainable.
Would you like to participate financially to help sustain this project?
Winter 2026 Update
It is hard to believe that the inaugural class just started their fourth and final year at Tumaini Jipya [New Hope]. Lord willing, these 19 young women will graduate at the end of this year! One focus of the school this year is to expose them to Tanzanian women who have gone on to become teachers, nurses, doctors, etc. so that they can map out possible next steps for themselves. Currently, there are 87 students overall but (believe it or not) more girls could still be added should their parents/guardians choose to send them to school late.
In early January, a team went to spend time with the students and staff, offering self-defense classes, training for the security guards, and continuing education for the teachers. There was also a Convocation ceremony — welcoming the students back — and a time to dedicate the year, new buildings (computer lab and sewing classroom), and the new school bus! We praise God for all that He has done and will do this coming year.
Good news!!
At the end of January, results from the Form 2 government exams were released. These exams took place at the end of last year (November 2025). Tumaini Jipya girls placed 1st in the district, 3rd in the region, 5th in the zone, and 80th out of the entire country…placing them in the top 1.3% of secondary schools across Tanzania!! This again proves that girls that get the right support can not only succeed, but they can thrive.
First graduation later this year!
This November, the inaugural class will graduate! We are thankful that girls will leave equipped with an education, with an understanding of God’s love for them, and also with skills that can be leveraged for their future. Whether girls will go on to seek further education or return to their villages, they will be able to start small businesses that will help them have an income. Girls have taken business education classes and have gained skills in sewing, raising chickens, and gardening. Women in different careers (medicine, teaching, engineering, etc.) will speak to the girls this year to share about their path so that the students will better understand the opportunities they have.
One girl’s story
Hello!! My name is Zuri (a pseudonym that means beautiful). I am a form four student at Tumaini Jipya Girls Secondary School which is found in Ukerewe District. I am sixteen (16) years old. In our family, we have five (5) children.
In the future I wish to become a doctor. I need to be a doctor because I want to treat different people in society who have got different challenges and problems like pregnant women so I can help them to save the lives of both mothers and kids.
The uniqueness of our school (Tumaini Jipya Girls Secondary School) are many. The school has been supporting the students who have challenges by providing scholarships, and I am among them. Also God has blessed our school by providing good workers who have knowledge, talents and are wise. They help us understand how we are blessed by God. We also have good infrastructures such as classrooms, laboratories, dining hall, dormitories, electricity and water. These infrastructures are available all the time, textbooks for studying, reading helps us perform our exams and improves our speaking skills.
In my opinion, the school is so nice to us because it is very helpful to our success because in my National Examination (NECTA) I got division 1 [the highest level], that is my great success and a blessing from God. My favorite verse from the Bible is Proverb 4:13. I would like to thank the friends and partners of the school for their support and I pray that GOD will bless them for supporting us, GOD will increase their economy so that they will support others again and again. God bless our School Tumaini Jipya, our country Tanzania, give us peace and security in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
NEXT STEPS
Our goals for 2026 include:
- Getting the school to a place of sustainability through local projects (chicken project, gardening, and other projects that are currently being explored).
- Building two new classrooms (which will house the computer lab and library, as well as a multi-purpose classroom for extracurriculars).
- Buying a mini-bus or other vehicle.
ARCHIVES
THE SCHOOL OPENED JANUARY 2023
Tumaini Jipya Secondary School opened for students on January 16, 2023! The school welcomed 27 Form 1 students into its first class. Form 1 is similar to the freshman year of high school in the United States. Grades are being added in phases, up to Form 4, with approximately twenty-five girls selected each year for the first four years. Girls are from all parts of the district, from varying socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. Each year priority is given to girls coming from the most vulnerable families and some vulnerable girls from other regions may be welcomed as well. Currently, there are 87 students.
Tumaini Jipya Secondary School for Girls is in a central location on Ukerewe Island, adjacent to several churches and a medical clinic.
Praise God, the following have been completed:
- Two Dormitories (to accommodate 50 girls in each and a matron in each)
- Four classrooms
- Administration block
- Bathroom
- Kitchen/Dining Hall
- Two Science labs (physics and chemistry)
- A well
- Electricity
- An incinerator
- A block of teachers’ houses (housing four teachers and their families)
- Chicken houses
- Two new buildings (computer lab and sewing classroom),
- A new school bus
Student progress – celebrating national exam results!
Last year was the first year Tumaini Jipya had students eligible to participate in the national exam as students only take this exam at the end of year 2 and year 4. Last year, Tumaini Jipya girls scored first in the district (out of 33), fifth in the region (out of 341 other schools), and were 91st in the country (out of 5,900). This year (Nov 2025), the girls placed 1st in the district, 3rd in the region, 5th in the zone, and 80th out of the entire country…placing them in the top 1.3% of secondary schools across Tanzania!! The exam is in English and some of these girls did not know much English at all when they started school two years ago! We praise God for these results. This again proves that girls that get the right support can not only succeed, but they can thrive.