“Bridging indigenous and modern worlds for a more peaceful society…”
“Terrawatu, one of the most highly respected NGOs in Tanzania” - Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children
The idea of Terrawatu was conceived over 20 years ago. In 1999, Tanya Pergola completed a PhD in sociology in the United States and headed to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and go on her first African wildlife safari. She was not a typical tourist. Tanya had studied anthropology as a university student and has had a life-long passion for exploring and understanding other cultures, indigenous consciousness, and living in harmony with nature. She had also ‘taken the baton’ from her late father, trained in pharmacy, to run the next leg of the race towards integrating traditional healing wisdom with cutting-edge science. While touring through the national parks and surrounding communities in Tanzania, looking out through the lenses of an environmental sociologist and activist, Tanya felt something stirring inside her. She was in a place where she could both give and receive on a grand scale. There were theories and strategies of development she learned in graduate school that could be enacted in communities to make positive changes; and, there were clearly insights into traditional wisdom that Tanya could learn that she could carry back to her ‘tribe’ in the States.
“Dr. Tanya is a living saint.” - Roman Catholic priest, Arusha, Tanzania
Terrawatu is an NGO (non-governmental organization) based in Arusha, Tanzania that has been operating for over 20 years. Our website is www.terrawatu.org
Encouraging Children
Schools & Orphans Centre
Almost every scholar and analyst of social problems around the world agrees - without an educated population, sustainable progress will never happen. Since its inception in 2001, Terrawatu has taken a lead in education efforts in northern Tanzania by creating long-term relationships with schools to provide informational, technological, and financial support. We have implemented dozens of projects at the primary and secondary school level in Tanzania in an effort to share expertise in information communication technology (ICT) and environmental problem-solving.
Currently, Terrawatu is supporting Kibowa and Huruma Orphans Centres outside of Arusha, Tanzania to construct dormitories and eco-friendly kitchens, growing and cooking healthy food, potable water, and electricity, and sponsorship of the children’s education.
Empowering Women
The Lynn Bretsnyder Women’s Centre
Since its early days, Terrawatu has worked hard to facilitate the education of girls and to give women tools to improve their livelihoods. We believe that true women’s empowerment emerges from within a culture. Global community experts can provide education and strategies, but women need to adapt these tools for what will work harmoniously within their extended family and village.
Terrawatu has cultivated long-term relationships with several homesteads in northern Tanzania that have manifested reforestation and medicinal plant cultivation projects, improved sanitation, implemented permaculture projects and small businesses based on traditional beadwork and handicrafts.
In 2022, we began construction of a Women’s Centre in Mkonoo Village, Tanzania. To learn more about this dream come true project and to get involved, visit this site.