Who is Engarre

I supervise all our projects personally, so that we have a guarantee that all purchased material is used in accordance with the project and that all wages are really paid. Money is not wasted. Our help is targeted and we thoroughly communicate the method of using the funds with the local mayor, his representative and, in case of school needs, directly with the school principal.

When I am at home in Slovakia, our communication is a bit more complicated. The telephone and internet signal is only received in some places, even there not always. For example, right in our village, you have to run up to the playground, there if we're lucky, we can even make a video call. We speak in a mixture of English, Swahili and Masai (although, to be honest, my Masai is really poor so far). But we can always come to an agreement in the end.

Since we are seeing results and improvements making the lives of many more people pleasant, we are planning to implement larger projects, which you can learn more about on our Projects page. I believe that even with small but targeted help, with tiny steps but with joint efforts we can contribute to the improvement of the world. At least this small Maasai piece of the world in Tanzania, from which, by the way, we have a lot to learn.

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Water is the source of life for people, animals and plants. We engage to bring water to places, where it is missing. The journey of Engarre starts in Africa, the part of world we fell in love with. Because love is a great motivation.

People in Tanzania know, what they need. Clean water, healthy food, work and fair income, access to education and health care... Not too much. Not even the basic standard in our western society. We listen and try to teach them "how to catch fish" instead of "serving them fish soup".

'Engarre' means 'water' in Maasai language and it is water and accessibility of drinkable water for people that is the priority of our organisation. The association of Engarre was founded by enthusiasts who visited the remote areas of Tanzania deep in the bush and were touched by the situation of local people. We started ourselves with help from our resources but soon realized that the challenges we face are beyond our personal options. This moved us to establish the non-profit organisation of Engarre as we believe that there are many others with open hearts and open minds who can support us in our mission.

The vision of Engarre is to help improve basic living conditions of vulnerable communities, help them generate own income, support education and much more. We call them 'vulnerable' because they depend on nature and its rhytms and the dramatic changes in climate and environment nowadays hit them strongly, not giving them the chance to adapt to them step by step, as they used to do for ages. Engarre is willing to be the emergency line, a helping hand in the storm that will enable them to overcome this critical period of time, cope with new life conditions and remain a sustainable community.

Local residents are hardworking, many of them are able to earn money to feed their families and dress simply but there is nothing left for them to invest in developing the community or infrastructure. Basically they are happy people and for a while we hesitated whether our interventions in their lives would deprive them of that happiness. After long discussions with local people we realized that also they desire the minimum comfort like access to clean water, sanity, education, work with fair income. Many young people long for better life and believe that education will make it reachable for them and they will be able to leave poverty behind.

Engarre operates in a beautiful community in the mainland of Tanzania, a country just below the equator in East Africa. It is a country of many colors, tribes, cultures, wonderful nature and biodiversity extending below the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro. The United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 1964 when Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined. More than 60 million people live here in peace although they represent more than 120 ethnical tribes of different languages. To understand each other they use common Swahili language. Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and many native faiths coexist together. They respect each other, cooperate, make friends... Engarre works in an area with many Masai people, a distinctive tribe that lives in strong connection with nature.

The team of Engarre is made up of Renata, the beating heart of Engarre, Anna, the background, Rasto, our environmental professional, helpful and hardworking Miro and Herminka, a 9-year old girl full of enthusiasm and great ideas. She is often the moving force in our team. The African part of our team is represented by Sekenoi, the flexible operative man and Roda representing creative Masai women and mothers.

The targets and projects of Engarre are in compliance with the main ideas of the Sustainable Developement Goals as widely promoted by the United Nations now. We cooperate with local people, address any support and help individually, taking into account the specifications of those affected, prepare and realize the projects in person. Check out our projects, follow us on social media and support our work - any form and quantity is welcome.

Thank you - Ďakujeme - Asante sana - Ashe!

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See also:

The Code of Ethics of Engarre