The Mafiri team on site

Tamara

Tamara Konzett, came to Mafiri in 2021 as a volunteer through the Austrian Foreign Service. After 10 months of social service, she finished her training as a mediator and applied again shortly after. This time for the open position as future project manager. The young Vorarlberg native has always been enthusiastic about international cultures and languages. As a nursing assistant/conflict manager, Tamara will enrich our team on site from July 2023 and from now on will take care of general issues around Mafiri and lead the planned further expansion in the coming years.

Lucas

Lucas Carraro, came as a guest in 2021 and stayed as a volunteer. After a 6-month assignment, he is now taking on the challenge of further expanding our power supply as well as supporting the local workers on site with the construction of the newly planned group of houses. The enthusiastic Vorarlberg native, already impressed us previously on-site with his knowledge of all aspects of plant electrics and his all-round handywork and skills. We are very much looking forward to our future collaboration and warmly welcome Lucas to Mafiri from July 2023.

Bianna

Bianna Sotelly Lugendo grew up under challenging conditions as a half-orphan with her aunts, and lived in an orphanage not far from Morogoro city from the age of 5. Thanks to her personal experience, Bianna always attaches great importance to treating our kids with care and respect and, as a certified social worker, looks after them with a lot of heart and patience in all matters. Bianna loves to sing and dance with the children. She takes care of the general documentation, including health monitoring of our Mafiri children.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Jone Julius impresses with her angelic patience and her heartfelt care for our kids. She takes care of the children on a daily basis, and always attaches great importance to general cleanliness and hygiene. Mama Eliza is always up for a game of memory or soccer, but what we enjoy most are her wild stories about rhinos and zebras. As a child, Elizabeth grew up near Dodoma in a farming environment, which is why she knows exactly what is important in our gardens, and how to take care of our goats and chickens.

Jowasi

Jowasi Baraka Nestory grew up in the Kigoma region near Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with his brother, he traveled to Morogoro at a young age in search of paid work. As our guardian, he has been conscientiously monitoring the area around Mafiri at night and during the day since 2022. After his night shift, Baraka is intrinsically motivated and enjoys chopping wood early in the morning or watering our gardens. He is always towards the children and enjoys accompanying them on inquisitive exploratory tours through our gardens.

Salma

Salma Kombo Muya recently passed her exam to become a certified social worker and has been in charge of our Mafiri kindergarten ever since. Here the children are playfully prepared for their upcoming school enrolment and learn the ABCs as well as counting and their first words and sentences in English. Salma loves to tell stories and often integrates the kids into daily tasks such as folding laundry, washing dishes and making beds. But Salma’s favorite thing to do with the children is to race.

Montana

Montana Ali Nakwacha looks after our gardens and the fruit trees in the surrounding area. Early in the morning, he starts watering the grounds with meter-long hoses or 10 liter watering cans. However, he prefers to spend his time growing small seedlings in our Greenhouse and looking after our chickens. As a father of two, Montana copes well with the daily hustle and bustle and enjoys the atmosphere of our oversized family. His wife and two children currently live near the Uluguru Mountains in Morogoro, which he visits every other weekend.