About Village Link Tanzania

Village Link Tanzania is a member-based non-profit organization (registered April 2009 in Tanzania as an NGO, # 11NGO/00003072, and incorporated as a not-for-profit October 2011 in Ontario, Canada, # 1852414).  VLT has its head office in Ikolo village, Kyela district.  It was founded by a Canadian volunteer who lived in Ikolo for over three years.

Village Link Tanzania's mission is to demonstrate through action that life in Tanzanian villages can be fruitful, healthy, and fulfilling.  With the influx of modern amenities and values from the outside world, there has been an erosion of villagers' pride in their rural identities.  Many villagers have come to scorn rural life, and even to give up farming, often their only source of income.

Village Link Tanzania has the aim of providing villagers with low-cost training in various life and vocational skills such as English, computers, sustainable farming methods, small business development, carpentry, sewing, solar-cooking, health/ nutrition, crafts from banana leaves and bamboo, tour-guiding, and drama. It also aims to sensitize people on eliminating negative cultural values and preserving positive ones. By offering low-cost education at the village level, we are eliminating at least two barriers that villagers would otherwise face in seeking training:  distance to town and lack of funds.