About us

MISSION & VISION

Thrive Afya Tanzania is a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Babati, Tanzania. Our team works to improve access to quality reproductive and maternal health services for adolescents and women in Tanzania. Due to the provision of poor health services in Tanzania, adolescents and women face high rates of morbidity and mortality. Thrive Afya Tanzania seeks to change that.

Our mission is to improve access to quality HIV/AIDS, reproductive, and maternal health services through health system strengthening, life skills development, education, research, and advocacy.

Thrive Afya Tanzania envisions a Tanzania where every adolescent and woman of reproductive age can choose when to start a family and has access to the necessary services to do so, can share their desires and achieve their goals without discrimination, and will no longer suffer due to lack of access to basic healthcare services.

FOUNDING STORY

Believe it or not, our journey started way back in 2007 when Simon, Waziri, and Mershil met working for Support for International Change (SIC). Katie and Yusuph joined SIC in 2010. While we didn’t all work for SIC at the same time, we have bonded over the memorable experiences that SIC gave us.

Unfortunately, in 2015, SIC decided to close its doors. As a result, Arusha and Babati were left without the incredible HIV support SIC provided. This would simply not do. Our shared passion to serve communities in Tanzania and provide them with the quality healthcare services they deserve drew us together to join hands once again.

So, in 2016, the five of us created a new organization, Thrive Afya Tanzania, which focuses on improving access to quality reproductive health services. Our dream is to ensure that women and adolescents in Tanzania can fulfill their basic human right to reproductive health services and to have the freedom to pursue their own dreams.

DONATE TODAY

Support local efforts to improve access to HIV/AIDS and reproductive health services in Babati, Tanzania.

Donate today so we can continue to provide critical health services to underserved populations in Tanzania.

CORE VALUES

Respect

We believe that respect for the communities that we serve is the first step towards creating change. Respect is an integral part of how we design and implement our programs.

Integrity

We are accountable to the communities that we serve, our partners, and our donors. We strive to be as transparent as possible about the successes and challenges we face in our work.

Change

We believe that change starts with the community. We harness community voices and join them together with health providers and the government to foster multi-level change.

Flexibility

We acknowledge that the needs of the community change. We, therefore, are committed to remaining flexible in adjusting our programs to be as effective as possible.

Compassion

We are driven by our compassionate spirit that informs the work that we do and how our programs are implemented.

Social Justice

We believe that access to quality reproductive health services is a human right that should be guaranteed to all adolescents and women of reproductive age.

TEAM

Katie-LM-2

Katie Lesyna-Mlaponi

Executive Director

Simon Gervas

TZ Programs Manager

Yusuph Ibrahim Mlaponi

TZ Operations Manager

Waziri Njau

Technical Expert

Mershil Kivuyo

Legal Advisor

Read more about the Thrive Afya Tanzania Team

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Susannah Gibbs, PhD

Board Chair

Sarah Johnston

Board Secretary

Michelle Hawks-Cuellar, PhD(c)

Board Treasurer

DONORS & PARTNERS

Generous Individual Donors

Thank you to all individual donors! Without you, our work would not be possible.

The Michael & Karen Lesyna Family Fund

Sarah A. Stewart Foundation

The Sarah A. Stewart Foundation has provided ongoing general support for our work.

The Matthew & Connie Ives Family Fund, an advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

CBJ Logo_300ppi

Providing sustainable weight loss and wellness coaching, Coaching by Jennifer donates 5% of her profits from her Well Journal sales.

Artizenry

Inspiring global citizenry through Art, Artizenry donates 5% of their profits to support women's health programs.

ATGEL

Africa Top Guide Expeditions, a Tanzanian safari company, donates 5% of their profits to TAT.

amazon-smile

Shop with AmazonSmile and choose Thrive Afya Tanzania to donate 0.5% of your purchases.

questionpro

QuestionPro provides unparalleled insights and just launched enterprise features including Communities, Customer ExperienceWorkforce and Mobile. TAT collects data remotely with their free non-profit program.