About Us

Mission and Vision

Arusha childrencenter takes advantage of their home city of Arusha as a hub of international tourism, and seeks to engage tourists in a meaningful two-way exchange.  Tourists are welcome to learn the real stories and lifestyles of everyday Tanzanians, through volunteering at the ACC Center as well as taking cultural and natural excursions with the ACC Team.  In return, the ACC Center uses tour fees to improve the facilities and increase the resources that they can offer to the community of homeless youth in Arusha, who come to ACC for physical, economic, and psycho-social support. 

Director’s Message: Dear Friends,
When you come to Arusha, you will no doubt see the beauty of my country: the splendor of Mount Kilimanjaro looming on the horizon, the lush grasslands where lions, giraffes, and elephants roam about your safari car, and the vibrant culture and strong will of the Masaai, who have always, and will always, live pastorally off of our land.
But you will also see, without a doubt, the tragedy of my country – the dejected and pleading faces of the street children who crowd our back alleys, who come to the streets to beg for your money and who will engage in crime or prostitution if need be, to survive.

On the surface, Arusha’s street children seem harsh and mean, but if you watch them carefully you will notice what is missing from their lives.  Our street children quite simply lack love and care, having been abandoned, physically and sexually abused or orphaned in their infancy and childhood, by parents who suffer from struggles like poverty, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS.  They then become susceptible to these struggles, and in the shadow of such blessed natural beauty, a human tragedy continues in our city.

I was born on the street by a homeless mother who abandoned me, where I endured not just physical struggle of finding food to eat and a safe space to sleep at night, but also the hopelessness and despair of having neither love or support, without any sense that I mattered to the world.
My life was saved in the year 2000 at age 14 by two community leaders who built a small center, Children for Children’s Future (CCF), where street children were free to come and go to fulfill their physical and psycho-social needs: food, beds, counseling, and educational activities.

By my mid-twenties, I realized the need to do more than what this shelter was offering, understanding the need for long-term planning and a sustainable business model to our charity.  We could not continue surviving based on local church charity alone, and the unpredictable charity of tourists who we aimed to involve in our work.

As Director of Arusha Children Center’s services to the homeless youth of Arusha, I am now taking the lead on designing and implementing our new service strategy.  As you will see explained on this website, we welcome individual and group tourists who will be traveling to Arusha, and we offer a series of tour packages that will provide our Arusha Children Center with financial support, and in exchange, offer visitors a fuller, more true look at the community to which they have come.

We do this not to showcase poverty and struggle, but to raise awareness of it and take meaningful action to end it.  We cannot do this alone, and for too many years I have watched tourists come into o and out of my city, missing the opportunity to leave this place better than when they arrived.  Shouldn’t all tourism stick to this model?
I warmly welcome you here on our online home, and to our home in Arusha, Tanzania.  Please contact me with your questions and to arrange your visit at emmyjohn2005@yahoo.com.
                                                 Karibu sana (You are most welcome),