Our Story & Approach

We are a grassroots, women-led civil society organization operating year-round to address the immediate and long-term challenges of extreme poverty ($3/day) in rural Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania.

In collaboration with three remote Maasai villages—home to approximately 4,200 people—our programs focus on empowering Maasai women and girls by expanding access to clean water, education, nutrition, health education, and employment opportunities.

Together, Lalafofofo (our U.S.-based 501(c)(3)) and Amka Sasa (our local Tanzanian NGO) operates as sister organizations to drive sustainable impact on the ground. Founded in 2015 in Moshi, Tanzania by Gaudencia Mtunga (Tanzanian) and Laura Vaughan (American), Lalafofofo was established with an initial $15,000 investment.

Today, 100% of our program funding is still managed through Lalafofofo. In 2020, Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa was officially accepted as an international partner of Girls Not Brides.

Our work is delivered through three key pillars:

Year-round programs, construction projects and crisis response programs.

We believe access to education is the key to ending extreme poverty. We are extremely humbled to have been chosen as partner by the three villages we work with, and greatly value every member of our Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa family.

The model below illustrates how our programming supports our Maasai partners throughout their lives, from child to elder.

DEI Statements

FOSTERING GLOBAL COMMUNITY: We are committed to inspiring compassionate leadership and global citizenship among Americans and Tanzanians as we build bridges between our two cultures through long-term partnership and collaboration. 

DIVERSITY: Our merit-based process for growing the Lalafofofo-Amka Sasa community ensures that our staff, interns, board members and community partners represent diverse age, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, national and religious identities. 

COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS LED BY WOMEN: Our community-based work is led by strong and innovative Tanzanian and American women who are committed to solving problems facing our global community, specifically poverty and child marriage, through increased access to education and economic opportunities. 

IMPROVING HUMANITARIANISM: As an organization working in international development we understand the complexity of navigating this area and acknowledge how far the humanitarian community still has to go to ensure local aid recipients are equal collaborators. We are dedicated to maintaining complete transparency and accountability with our local partners and international donors as we work directly with Maasai village elders and other community leaders. The goal of these partnerships is to develop sustainable systems of empowerment designed by and for the Maasai communities of Kilimanjaro that will ensure lasting social equality and economic development.