We plan to sponsor therapies to children with Autism who hail from low-income families.
Currently, we had a list of 11 Children from Msimbazi Mseto and Mbuyuni Primary School Autism Centers in Dar es Salaam who are in desperate need for therapies. The cost of one therapy session is about TZS 20,000 per 20 minutes in government centers/hospitals and up to TZS 50,000 per 45 minutes session in Private Centres; which can amount up to TZS 1,000,000 a month for one type of therapy. One Child needs multiple therapies. This is a great burden on the side of parents even for those deemed financially secure.
Being a Non-Profit Organization, we depend of donations from family, friends and other organizations and businesses. We organized an Autism Awareness Fundraising Gala Dinner last October where Hon. Jakaya Kikwete, former President of Tanzania was our guest of honor. We managed to raise 50,000,000 including pledges, in-kind donations of three desktop computers and the costs of the event. This is about the cost of 2-3 Autism Children’s therapies required per year. We aim to raise additional 150,000,000
We have been organising several events in a year to fundraise for the causes and projects that we conduct.
Our long-term plan is to have a vocational school where youth with Autism can be trained in certain skills such as smart agriculture in order to have an opportunity to contribute to the Tanzania economy. We are currently in talks with Africa Association of Vertical Farming in starting this Academy here in Tanzania.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WALKATHON-GUEST OF HONOUR – ILALA DISTRICT COMMISSIONER HON. NG’WILABUZU LUDIGIJA
On 29th November, 2020, Lukiza Autism Foundation, partnered with Dr Reginald Mengi People with Disabilities Foundation to commemorate international day of people with disabilities. The theme for 2020 was ‘Not all disabilities are visible’ Lukiza Autism Foundation was there to education the public on Autism and the Walkathon has the purpose of education the public on all types of disabilities.
In December 2020, Lukiza Autism Foundation organized a Christmas with Autism Movie Day where the main objective was to show love to families, friends and caregivers of individuals with Autism and to encourage them to socialize with their children. Once outside their home in a group setting and gaining confidence the parents will eventually start going out as a family to places such as churches, markets, beaches and the like without fear of being discriminated. In addition, the aim of this activity was to teach the general public tolerance and acceptance of these individuals.
WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS FAIR 2021 AT THE DAR ES SALAAM SERENA HOTEL – GUEST OF HONOUR HON. GODWIN MOLLEL, DEPUTY MINISTRY OF HEALTH, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, GENDER, ELDERLY AND CHILDREN.
On Saturday 10th April 2021, Lukiza Autism Foundation organized an Autism Awareness Fair 2021 with the purpose of bringing together all major players in Autism and other non-visible disabilities in order to showcase what services are available in Tanzania and lobby the government for the policy changes and implementation. This Autism Awareness Fair appears to have been a milestone in the sense that that there was a promise for the relevant ministries to work together towards improving health and education needs for people with disabilities especially non-visible disabilities to name a few.