Education and economic opportunity transform lives

Growing up wasn’t easy for Mdanzi Salim Makame. At 13, he had to leave school to sell fruit with his father. It was the end of his formal education.

When he was older, he moved to a new village to start a family and found work on a farm. He was a hard worker and dreamed of a brighter future for his children — but he found it challenging to support his growing family.

That changed in 2015. Through a new Abbott Fund program to help spur economic opportunity in Tanzania’s Mkinga district, he was given a dairy cow, which became a vital source of nutrition and income for his family. Makame sold milk at a local collection center built by Abbott Fund with support from Heifer International.

With the money he earned, Makame was able to turn his dreams into reality. With just one cow to start, Makame proved to be an exceptional entrepreneur. Today, his farm spans six acres, where he raises eight cows; tends to goats, chickens and donkeys; and grows bananas, oranges and maize.

Makame and his wife Selina were able to build a new home and invest in their children’s education, giving them hope for a better and brighter future — including the formal education Makame was never able to receive.

“My child, Rehema, one day she said to me, ‘Dad, I want to be a doctor,’” Makame says. “She told me, ‘I will work hard, I will learn. I want to be a doctor.’ I told her, ‘All right, my child, work hard.’” Today, Rehema is following her dream in fifth grade, studying STEM topics at school.

Makame’s family is just one of many families impacted by Abbott and Abbott Fund’s 25-year partnership with the people of Tanzania to build stronger communities and strengthen the country’s health system, including pioneering emergency medicine, modernizing diagnostic labs across the country, and more.

Improving Livelihoods Through Economic Opportunities

About 80% of Tanzania’s population is made up of family farmers like Makame, with many living below the poverty line. That’s why Abbott has invested in projects to boost skills, income and opportunity.

The dairy cow program is just one example. Abbott Fund provided more than 400 dairy cows to farming families in Northern Tanzania. The cows not only provide nutrition for families, but also a valuable source of income, increasing family earnings by almost 90%.

When the first new calf is born, farmers gift it to a neighboring family, creating a chain of support within the community.

And the local milk collection center where farmers sell their milk helps the local primary school – also supported by Abbott Fund – where Makame’s children attend, providing nutrition for students and funding for essential needs like staffing and electricity.

Strengthening Education for Students

The primary school in Bantu Village is just one of Abbott Fund’s educational programs for children in Tanzania. Today, nearly 450 students attend kindergarten through grade seven at the school.

To further expand educational access for these students, Abbott Fund recently joined government leaders to dedicate the new Miles and Kimberly White High School in nearby Mapatano. The newly renovated and expanded secondary school was named in honor of retired Abbott Chairman and CEO Miles White and his late wife Kimberly, who provided longstanding support for local communities, including personal contributions to help build the primary school in Bantu Village together with grants from Abbott Fund.

The expanded high school campus, with new classrooms, library, science labs, dormitories, sports fields and more, accommodates 800 students, doubling the former school’s capacity and offering advanced, upper-level classes (grades 12 and 13) in addition to lower-level classes (grades 8-11).

Supporting Children to Realize Their Potential

Beyond education, we support a range of programs for children across Tanzania.

Abbott Fund supported 5,000 paralegal volunteers to help orphans and widows navigate legal and inheritance challenges. As a result, professional trained paralegals continue to protect the rights of women and children, helping to resolve 150,000 cases to date.

We also supported the government’s work to open the National Children’s Home campus in Dodoma in 2020. Here, more than 150 orphans and vulnerable children and young people, some living with disabilities or having experienced abuse or neglect, receive schooling, vocational training and healthcare each year. The center works to reintegrate children into safe families and communities, and equip young people with skills and training to help them realize their potential.

Transforming Lives to Build a Healthy Future

Health. Education. Economic opportunity. Since 2000, Abbott and Abbott Fund have worked alongside the people of Tanzania to help support these foundational pillars for thriving communities.

Makame’s story shows the human impact of these efforts: one cow helped him send his children to school, where his daughter will receive the education and support she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

Just one example of how partnership can help build a brighter future for children in communities around the world.