Tanzania Alakra

Alakra helps young Tanzanian women take control of their lives through education and skills training so that they can attain jobs or start their own businesses.

The organisation was founded by Tim Corfield, a semi-retired Royal African Safaris Partner and Royal African Foundation Board Member, who is based in Arusha, Tanzania.

Alakra also supports young people whose parents work in wildlife conservation, but its focus is on helping young women. Alakra finances secondary schooling and skills training courses to help them secure jobs or start their own businesses. It also provides accommodation and food in Arusha for students who need it, so that they can attend high school. Alakra has supported many girls who have run away from forced arranged marriages, like Salome.

Salome was born into a Maasai family as the last of 8 children. Her father passed away when she was still in primary school. Her mother had nothing: no lives ock or land, but she was incredibly resourceful. She traded tobacco, beer, and anything else she could find at the Maasai markets to make money to raise her eight children. Salome we t to primary school – her mother insisted on it. However, as is the custom in Maasai culture, Salome’s mother married her daughters off in return for livestock. When Salome was 13,  he was betrothed to an older man in the village. As she had seen with her elder sisters, marriage would mean she could no longer go to school, but Salome was determined to finish school. So she ran away in the dark with the few shillings she had been given in advance by her mother as a gift to start her new life with her husband (or maybe her mother had an inkling of Salome’s secret intentions to flee).

After a long struggle, including being forced back to her village, running away a second time, and walking endlessly from place to place in desperate bids for security, she eventually found her way to her uncle in Ar sha, where he works as a security guard for Tim. Her uncle was unsympathetic. Destitute and with forced marriage looming for the 3^rd time, Salome approached Tim for help to finish her schooling. She is part of the reason Tim founded Alakra. With Alakra’s support, she completed secondary school and received a diploma in Hotel and Hospitality management. She now works for Tim‘s company doing purchasing and general management assistance, and she helps support her mother and others back home. She is also a mentor to the girls that are helped by Alakra. 

So far, Alakra has empowered 48 students to take control of their lives through education and skills training. This year, it is supporting 27 students and it hopes to support more.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to Alakra for your part in helping to empower these young people.

If you would like to donate to Alakra, you can do so through our foundation.

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100% of your donation will go to the project you choose and your donation to our registered 501(c)(3) organisation is tax-deductible as provided for by law.

Please contact us if you have any questions.