Our programmes
Six programmes, one promise: protect and educate.
From the chessboard to the household — supporting the child, empowering the family, and strengthening the community around them.
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PROGRAMME 01
Chess for Development
Chess is a low-cost, high-impact tool for teaching children how to think — to plan ahead, weigh choices, stay patient, and recover from a bad move. Our chess work has three connected strands.
School Chess Clubs
8 clubs across Arusha public schools, each built on a 10-lesson curriculum, meeting weekly on the Friday sports day. Schools receive donated boards once a club is running.
Infinite Chess (inclusion)
Through FIDE’s Infinite Chess project, with the Norway Chess Federation, we support 12 children with autism across three institutions in small groups — building focus, patience and social skills.
Competitions
Around 600 children a year take part in the Easter Schools Tournament, the East Africa Cup (with CHRISC Tanzania), and the Arusha Mini Games.
We train 10–15 chess tutors a year; stable funding for modest stipends would let us retain them, improve teaching, and reach more schools.
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PROGRAMME 02 · Flagship
Breaking the Cycle
A whole-child, whole-family programme for 23 children at Salei and Unga Limited Primary Schools. Pillar 1 supports the child — chess, tutoring, sport and school essentials. Pillar 2 empowers the parent — entrepreneurship workshops and Vikoba savings groups. When a parent is empowered, a home stabilises; when a home stabilises, a child can thrive.
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PROGRAMME 03
Support for Young Mothers & Children
Supporting at-risk young mothers was our founding purpose, and it remains close to our heart. Teen mothers deserve support, not condemnation.
How it works today
We run a referral-based protection model: as we deliver sessions in schools, our facilitators identify children at heightened risk, connect them to partner organisations specialising in shelter, health and protection, and follow up where we can.
Our vision
Our long-term ambition is to open a dedicated Iyanna safe house offering shelter, counselling and health support directly. Until we can sustainably resource that, our referral model ensures no child we identify is left without a path to care.
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PROGRAMME 04
Life Skills & Reproductive Health Education
Knowledge is one of the most powerful forms of prevention. We deliver youth-friendly education that helps young people make informed, confident choices.
- Life-skills development — communication, self-awareness, goal-setting and conflict resolution.
- Peer learning through chess clubs — our chess hubs double as safe, peer-supported spaces to discuss sensitive topics openly.
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PROGRAMME 05
STEM Education & Mentorship
Closing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and maths is a goal we’re building toward — not yet a finished formula. We’ve been piloting different pieces of what a strong STEM programme could look like, and we’re continuing to shape them into something more complete.
- Interactive STEM workshops — hands-on sessions we’ve piloted to build early confidence and foundational knowledge.
- Mentorship — connecting students with role models who can guide them along educational and career pathways..
- Chess integration — using chess to strengthen the problem-solving and analytical thinking STEM depends on
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PROGRAMME 06
Reflective Leadership for Social Change
The practice of deliberately examining one’s own decisions, values and assumptions — because individual transformation is the foundation of wider social change.
A programme in its own right
Delivered with our partner UZIKWASA (2023–2026), training school committees, around 30 faith leaders, and district and government officials to strengthen responses to violence against children and gender-based violence.
An approach we champion
We are ready to bring the model to new groups, communities and partners — especially in rural and underserved areas where institutional capacity is thin.
A thread through all our work
Reflective leadership shapes how our coaches mentor children, how facilitators hold space in life-skills sessions, and how we support the women entrepreneurs in our savings groups to lead in their own homes and communities.
Support our work.
Every gift helps sustain what we do — from chess clubs to family support and youth mentorship.