Our mission
To enhance the quality of life in Tanzanian communities through sustainable development initiatives, empowering individuals to achieve financial independence and self-sufficiency.
About the Foundation
A Tanzanian NGO, working village by village
Founded in 2005 and based in Dar es Salaam, African Reflections Foundation works in the Pwani and Dar es Salaam regions on water, education, economic empowerment and climate action.
Who we are
Legal status
Registered NGO in Tanzania
Headquartered in Dar es Salaam.
Founded
2005
Beginning with sanitation, clean water and nutrition in rural areas.
Where we work
Pwani & Dar es Salaam
Mkuranga, Bagamoyo and Kigamboni districts, with projects in 40 recorded villages.
The seeds of the Foundation were sown at a village well.
African Reflections Foundation (ARF) was established in 2005 as a registered Non-Governmental Organization based in Tanzania. The seeds of ARF were sown by Hon. Maryvonne Pool, the Honorary Consul of Seychelles to Tanzania — a dedicated change-maker with a profound commitment to serving those in need, deeply moved by the health and socio-economic challenges afflicting communities in rural Tanzania.
As ARF continues to evolve and grow, its mission has expanded to envision a world where every individual has access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, leading to thriving and resilient communities. The Foundation creates sustainable development initiatives, supports the well-being of underprivileged communities, promotes healthy and well-fed populations, and empowers individuals to attain financial independence and self-sufficiency.
Our focus areas
- Water Wells Projects
- Education Projects
- Women Empowerment
- Community Development
- Climate Action
Our vision
We envision a world where all individuals have access to quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, resulting in sustainable, thriving, and resilient communities.
Counted from the records
Each of these is derived from the project and well records published on this site, so it cannot drift away from the pages it links to.
6
Projects completed
Each with its own record and delivery date
See the records42
Sponsored water points listed
From 2009 onward — a sponsored subset, not the total
See the records3
Districts
Mkuranga, Bagamoyo, Kigamboni
See the records
The Foundation also maintains organisation-wide totals reaching back to 2005. Those are shown once, on the impact page, together with a note explaining which of them are still being reconciled against its own project reports. See the impact page.
What we do
Four programmes, one region
The Foundation began with water and sanitation and widened from there. The programmes are deliberately concentrated in the same districts, so a village that gains a well can also gain a hostel, a farming group and a classroom.
WaterSolar-powered and shallow wells at schools and in villages, and the register of every sponsored well since 2009.Explore the programme EducationGirls’ hostels that remove the daily walk to school, classrooms, and examination results published as raw distributions.Explore the programme Economic empowermentSmallholder farming groups, greenhouses, organic production and routes to market.Explore the programme Climate actionA youth-led blue-green programme across marine ecosystems, tree planting and climate education.Explore the programme
Where we work
Almost all of the Foundation's delivered work sits in Mkuranga District in the Pwani Region, south of Dar es Salaam, with a proposed hostel at Mapinga in Bagamoyo District to the north. In 2026 the sponsored well programme also reached two primary schools in Kigamboni District, in Dar es Salaam Region.
Keeping most of the work in one district is a choice rather than a limit. It means the same team returns to the same schools year after year, and it is why a well, a hostel and a farming group often turn out to be in the same village.
Villages and sites on record
Named in the project records and the sponsored well register. This is what the Foundation can evidence, not a claim about everywhere it has ever worked.
- Mwinyi
- Kinene
- Dondo Kisiju
- Mapinga
- Mwarusembe
- Kiparang’anda
- Dondo
- Mwarusambe
- St. Francis
- Mwandege
- Kisele
- Uzizi
- Kisenvule
- Mkamba
- Mwasonga
- Kisarawe 2
- Mkokozi
- Kwachale
- Kimbiji
- Mkugilo
- Mbezi Kitomondo
- Dundani
- Magoza
- Kiparanganda
- Misasa
- Tungi
- Mkamba Kizapala
- Kizomla
- Dondwe
- Mingombe
- Miteza
- Mkiu
- Mikere
- Mponga
- Tungalipo
- Mwanambaya
- Kifumangao
- Mkuranga
- Malenda in Nyangobo
- Malenda
What guides us
Our values, and what they look like in practice
A value that cannot be checked is decoration. Each of these is followed by the thing on this site you can hold it against.
Collaboration
We are deeply committed and open to collaborating with other organizations to accomplish shared goals and tasks set between our foundation and our partnering organizations.
In practice
Every hostel and school well on this site names the partner who funded it — Build a Life Foundation, Drilling for HOPE, Be Something in Life — rather than presenting shared work as ARF’s alone.
How projects are chosen and deliveredSustainability
We are dedicated to fostering a sustainable and inclusive environment for every individual by addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and social inequality.
In practice
Wells are solar-powered, and the Blue Green Heroes programme is youth-led by design. Where a plan plans its own handover to district councils, that plan is published as a proposal, not as work already done.
The climate action programmeInnovation
We are driven by generating fresh ideas that can make a meaningful impact on our society. We achieve this by fostering collaboration and creating projects and programs that directly address the needs of our community.
In practice
Solar pumping instead of hand pumps, greenhouses instead of open-field seasons, and a retail route to market — the Be Organic Store opened in central Dar es Salaam on 13 November 2023 with TanzPro Greens Ltd, a separate company.
The agriculture programmeIntegrity
We are dedicated to serving communities with unwavering honesty, guided by strong moral principles and a steadfast commitment to our core values. Our actions, words, and beliefs are consistently aligned, demonstrating our dedication to doing what is right, regardless of the circumstances.
In practice
Where the Foundation’s own reports give different totals for the same thing, this site publishes the disagreement instead of choosing the most flattering number. Several headline figures are held back for exactly that reason.
How claims are checked before publishing
Founder
Hon. Maryvonne Pool
Founder · Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles to Tanzania
Maryvonne Pool, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles in the United Republic of Tanzania, has always been driven by a deep desire to create a lasting positive impact in the rural communities of Tanzania. Shortly after her arrival in Tanzania she learned of a devastating drought in the Mkuranga District, and a visit to Mwarusembe Village — and the young woman she met drawing water from a dilapidated well — became the seed of the Foundation, established in 2005.
How to check any of this
Nothing on this page asks to be taken on trust. Each of these leads to the underlying record.
What happens next starts with you.
Donate, volunteer or partner with the Foundation — every programme on this site began with someone deciding to help.