Center Services Across our 12 centres in Moshi and Hai, children benefit
from education, therapy, social interaction, and two
nutritious meals each day. Home Services Outreach Workers provide regular home visits to monitor
the health and nutrition of clients, offer support and
guidance to caregivers, and make referrals for specialized
services where necessary. Community
Engagement BCC has inclusive partnerships with churches, schools, and
local organizations. BCC participates in community events,
hosts events for disability awareness, and provides outreach
and awareness to the community.
DONATE TO BCC PROGRAM

LOCAL:
Building a Caring Community
A/C NO. 00102000397
UCHUMI COMMERCIAL BANK
MOSHI BRANCH.

OR
M-PESA: +255 769 812 291 (KKKT – BCC)

INTERNATIONAL:
Donate via our partners MOSAIC International.

Bishop Dr. Fredrick O. Shoo
BCC Board – Chairperson

NOTE FROM THE BISHOP

“In the past 15 years, we have seen many changes in the community. In the beginning, if somebody had a child with a disability, it was perceived as a curse from God or a product of witchcraft. Due to that perception, children with disabilities were hidden and not valued. We did a lot in these 15 years, and now this perception has changed.”

ABOUT BCC PROGRAM

Building a Caring Community (BCC) works with 8 parishes in Moshi Municipal to provide comprehensive services to children and young adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. BCC was founded in 2007 and currently serves more than 200 clients through center and home services.

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Our Services

Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy
Proper feeding, positioning, mobility exercises, provision of assistive devices, staff and parent trainings.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Individual service plans, activities of daily living, hygiene, and staff/parent training.
Young Adult Program
Young Adult Program
Life skills and vocational training in agriculture, handcrafts, and entrepreneurship.
PROMOT Health
PROMOT Health
Preventative healthcare, nutrition, access to medication, and annual screenings.
Education
Education
Class lessons, literacy skills, and individualized education plans.
Inclusion
Inclusion
Community engagement, partnerships, and social participation initiatives.
Family Supports
Family Supports
Economic empowerment, caregiver training, psychosocial counseling, and family resilience programs.

BCC BOARD

BCC Management

Board Member
CPA. Munguatosha Makyao
Board Member
Mr. Fredy Monyo
Chairperson
Bishop Dr. Fredrick O. Shoo
Assistant Chairperson
Rev. James Nkya
Secretary
MD Elirehema Kaaya
Board Member
Rev. Leons Shirima

Videos

In this BCC documentary, produced in 2022, we share about where we were, where we are, and where we are going. Hear from a wide spectrum of voices in the BCC Family including children, young adults, caregivers, staff, church leaders, and more. "BCC helps me to get food and clothes. I really love the BCC teachers and the swing at Karanga center. I feel very good when I get visitors from BCC." - Frida Lyimo, BCC Client, Home Services "Without BCC, I would be dead. I thought I was the only one who had a child with a disability. I got encouraged through parent seminars and came to discover others. I was perceiving [my child] as a burden to me and others perceived the same. But I came to recognize these children are a big blessing to the family. I tell other families who have children w disabilities like me they should not give up. Instead they should thank God for getting that blessed child accept them as valued family members." - Demetria Mushi, Mama Primus "May God bless BCC. Thanks to BCC for seeing the need of the community and providing a safe environment for our kids and ourselves. BCC showed us we are valuable and gave us confidence. We used to think we were different from other people. But now we realize we have people to carry our burdens with us. We are thankful to BCC and to God for BCC existing." - Lydia Kilwale, Mama Milka "In the past 15 years, we have seen many changes in the community. In the beginning, if somebody had a child with a disability, it was perceived as a curse from God or a product of witchcraft. Due to that perception, children with disabilities were hidden and not valued. We did a lot in these 15 years, and now this perception has changed." - Rt. Rev Dr. Fredrick Onael Shoo, ELCT-ND Presiding Bishop and BCC Board Chairperson Learn more: www.buildingacaringcommunity.org
In this BCC documentary, produced in 2022, we share about where we were, where we are, and where we are going. Hear from a wide spectrum of voices in the BCC Family including children, young adults, caregivers, staff, church leaders, and more. "BCC helps me to get food and clothes. I really love the BCC teachers and the swing at Karanga center. I feel very good when I get visitors from BCC." - Frida Lyimo, BCC Client, Home Services "Without BCC, I would be dead. I thought I was the only one who had a child with a disability. I got encouraged through parent seminars and came to discover others. I was perceiving [my child] as a burden to me and others perceived the same. But I came to recognize these children are a big blessing to the family. I tell other families who have children w disabilities like me they should not give up. Instead they should thank God for getting that blessed child accept them as valued family members." - Demetria Mushi, Mama Primus "May God bless BCC. Thanks to BCC for seeing the need of the community and providing a safe environment for our kids and ourselves. BCC showed us we are valuable and gave us confidence. We used to think we were different from other people. But now we realize we have people to carry our burdens with us. We are thankful to BCC and to God for BCC existing." - Lydia Kilwale, Mama Milka "In the past 15 years, we have seen many changes in the community. In the beginning, if somebody had a child with a disability, it was perceived as a curse from God or a product of witchcraft. Due to that perception, children with disabilities were hidden and not valued. We did a lot in these 15 years, and now this perception has changed." - Rt. Rev Dr. Fredrick Onael Shoo, ELCT-ND Presiding Bishop and BCC Board Chairperson Learn more: www.buildingacaringcommunity.org
The BCC Young Adult Program provides education, life skills, vocational training, and eventual job opportunities to young adults, and builds societal awareness of the potential of people with intellectual disabilities to be independent. Based on individual interests, youth practice skills in agriculture, chicken raising, cooking, cleaning, handcrafts, jewelry, soap, card, papermaking, church relations, and more. After graduation, young adults receive regular follow-up services to monitor progress. Learn more: www.buildingacaringcommunity.org
Awareness, Inclusion, and Love with our friends from Kilimahewa Modern Secondary School (formerly KIWOCE). Check out some history and highlights from one of our most cherished partnerships. "I love everything about Kiwoce. We join together, we worship together. We sing and dance and play together." | ZITA JULIUS, BCC Young Adult "|'d like to be a doctor for disabled people and a surgeon. They made me have that future. Because I love to stay near to them and learn about their life." | HAPPYNESS MASSAWE, Kilimahewa Form 3 Student [video description: Interviews and clips and photos of dancing and games with students and staff of BCC and Kilimahewa Modern Secondary School. The dancing takes place in a large classroom, with around 60 people. Kilimahewa interviews take place outside with a school building in the background, BCC interviews take place outside with the BCC shamba (farm) in the background.]
"Thank you for inviting me to tell you about a very sweet boy named Athumani Ali. He came to BCC when he was 3 and was unable to move. He was very malnourished and anemic and needed blood transfusion to stay alive. He has loving parents but they are very poor and cannot afford to pay for his health care. When Athumani came to BCC, he slept all the time. He was assessed by doctors and given the medicines and therapy plan to help him. We closely monitor all children for their weight and health. If a child is malnourished we give them a very good nutritional supplement that helps them gain weight and get stronger. After Ahumani started the supplements, his health improved and anemia decreased. We have a saying, “pole pole” which means slowly, slowly, this is how he gained his strength and went from no movement at all to controlling his head, from laying to sitting, and now sitting to crawling. It has been 6 years of physical therapy and supplements and he has grown so much that he is no longer considered malnourished and can eat a variety of foods like his friends at the centers. Being able to move and go where he wants to go is so important. He gets to play with the other children. I want to keep working with him and someday help him learn to walk…pole, pole, I know we will get there - with your help, love and support. Thank you." | Sister Woinde Nkya, BCC Occupational Therapist
"We have many success stories with the young adults who have grown up in the community centers and now are learning skills to help them gain independence and the ability to earn money. Verul is one of these success stories. He is 17 and lives with his grandmother who helps care for him. This has been hard on his grandma as she has grown older. He was not allowed to go to school and he was at home, all alone for most of his young life. His grandma was very worried about Verul. If she sent him to the market, he would wander off and get lost for a long time. It is very hard to find lost children in Moshi. He did not do very much to take care of himself and was not very helpful around their home. Verul started in our young adult program about 2 years ago. This is a place where kids 16 years and older come to learn how to take care of themselves and learn skills to earn money by cleaning, cooking, card making, taking care of animals and farming. Verul was doing very good work and he made friends, like Derrick who is his best friend. He really likes working on the farm, tending to sugarcane and banana trees, making the cards, and learning how to cook different kinds of food. He now does these things at home to help his grandma. She had to leave him alone under the care of a neighbor while she got medical care. When she came home and saw the changes in Verul, She came to me with tears of joy and said, Veruli is very important to her and she was worried about him. But now he is a good helper who can help her with chores and grow a garden. Before, they had to buy their vegetables at the market, and now Verul grows so many vegetables that they even sell the extras to the neighbors. He can now be trusted to run errands and be independent and she does not have to be afraid for him. She does not have to care for him - he instead cares for her. He has also learned a lot of navigation skills in the community and walks the 2km from his home to the center and back every day. Thank you all for supporting the work of BCC and helping people like Verul grow up healthy and able to give back to others." - Patrick Mangowi | BCC Job Coach
March 2023 marked a bittersweet turning point in the history of BCC and our partners Mosaic International with the retirement of Bishop Emeritus David deFreese. Dave has been an integral and passionate partner of BCC for many years. We will miss his regular involvement in BCC mission and operations but we wish him all the very best in this new chapter. “We will always remember the words of encouragement, love, and care that you have shown us… Kila la kheri. Mungu akubariki” | Deacon Elirehema Kaaya, BCC Program Coordinator “I feel very proud to have interacted with Bishop deFreese and I have learned a lot from him. He is soft, sober, fatherly and an organized leader.” | Zebadiah S. Moshi, ELCT-ND General Secretary ... Machi 2023 iliashiria mabadiliko machungu katika historia ya BCC na washirika wetu Mosaic International kwa kustaafu kwa Askofu Emeritus David deFreese. Dave amekuwa mshirika muhimu na mwenye shauku wa BCC kwa miaka mingi. Tutakosa kuhusika kwake mara kwa mara katika misheni na shughuli za BCC lakini tunamtakia kila la heri katika sura hii mpya. "Tutakumbuka daima maneno ya kutia moyo, upendo, na kujali ambayo umetuonyesha... Kila la kheri. Mungu akubariki" | Shemasi Elirehema Kaaya, Mratibu wa Mpango wa BCC "Najisikia fahari sana kuwasiliana na Askofu deFreese na nimejifunza mengi kutoka kwake. Yeye ni laini, mwenye kiasi, baba na kiongozi aliyejipanga." | Zebadiah S. Moshi, Katibu Mkuu wa KKKT-ND ... [video description: A series of photos of Bishop deFreese with BCC children, young adults, and staff members. Also, some video clips and photos of children and young adults dancing and holding signs saying "Asante sana, Askofu Defreese. BCC Coordinator Deacon Kaaya and ELCT General Secretary Moshi speak about Defreese's impact from their respective desks. The BCC staff choir sings a church hymn in the background.] [maelezo ya video: Msururu wa picha za Bishop deFreese akiwa na watoto wa BCC, vijana wazima, na wafanyakazi. Pia, baadhi ya vipande vya video na picha za watoto na vijana wakicheza na kushika mabango yanayosema "Asante sana, Askofu Defreese. Mratibu wa BCC Shemasi Kaaya na Katibu Mkuu wa KKKT Moshi wanazungumza kuhusu athari za Defreese kwenye madawati yao. Kwaya ya wafanyakazi wa BCC inaimba wimbo wa kanisa. nyuma.]

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