Godfrey's Children Center

Godfrey’s Children Center until December 2007 was a haven for children in need and a hub of activity in an isolated village hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The Center’s five buildings were constructed by villagers who used a single hand-operated machine to make 10,000 bricks. The main building includes a dining hall, infirmary, classrooms and space for community gatherings. Two other buildings provided temporary housing for 58 orphaned children. There is a separate kitchen that prepared three meals a day and a shed that houses cows, pigs and chickens.

In addition, the village set aside enough land for a recreation area and cultivation of crops, including vegetables and grain, to feed the children. Four elders — all widows from the village — use to live and work in the Center, creating a nurturing and compassionate environment.

Unfortunately, due to conflict among Africa Bridge (foreign donor), the community of Idweli and Godfrey's Children Organization (Tanzania NGO) the Center was closed by the Tanzanian District government in December 2007.

The Lundy Foundation regretted the closing of Godfrey’s Children’s Center, but we were able to take the valuable lessons learned there and leverage them. Our experience in evaluating the center’s impact, for example, has evolved into a research methodology that can be used internationally by any organization seeking to improve children’s lives. Further, we’ve come to believe that all international projects funded by the U.S. government can benefit from monitoring and evaluation, like we did in Idweli. We have become advocates before Congress for the passage of legislation requiring all US foreign aid programs to be evaluated for impacts and results.

Godfrey’s Children’s Center may be only a memory, but its impact lives on.

© Lundy Foundation 2010