NCDF Annual Report 2025 | Ndifo Community Development Foundation

Ndifo Community Development Foundation

Annual
Report 2025

Education  ·  Health  ·  Environment

“Building brighter futures for Tanzania’s children,
one school at a time.”

scroll

2025 Highlights

This year, together with our community partners and donors, we made meaningful progress across Ndifo and neighboring villages in Tanzania.

🏫

Safer Classrooms

Rehabilitated 11 learning spaces — fresh walls, safe floors, new desks — for a better and brighter future for 680 children.

🚽

Completed Toilets

Built clean, safe sanitation facilities including girls’ changing rooms — protecting children’s health and keeping girls in school.

🎨

Educational Murals

East African artist Samuel Kinyua painted a gorgeous mural and taught children their first art classes.

🍲

Food Support

Provided meals and nutrition support via our new kitchen — serving 680 children every single day.

💧

Lovilokoi Water

500+ community members now have water near their homes. Some have electricity for the first time.

🎉

NYC Gala

Raised $34,000 at our November 2024 fundraising gala and auction in midtown Manhattan.

Financial Snapshot

Donor Funds Received
0
Project Expenses
0
Admin Expenses
0
Cash & Equivalents
0
89%

Program Expense Ratio

89% of all spending goes directly to mission programs. Best-practice benchmark is 65–75%. We exceed it.

Where the Money Went

New Kitchen (Roaringlion Fund) $20,836
11 Classrooms & Fencing $43,082
Toilets Construction $20,082
Other Program Services $10,500
Administrative $11,156

Our Programs

🏫
Education

Likamba Primary School

Transforming a dilapidated school near Arusha into a clean, safe, dignified learning space for 680 children who have the very least.

  • 11 fully refurbished classrooms
  • New efficient kitchen — best in region
  • Security fencing around the school
  • 16 modern toilets & girls’ changing rooms
  • Daily food/porridge program
  • Art program & educational murals
  • Internet connection for Zoom lessons
💧
Water & Health

Lovilokoi Water Project

Bringing fresh water to a rural community of 500+ residents just outside Arusha — ending exhausting daily water treks for mothers and children.

  • Water piped from source miles away
  • Community collection point near homes
  • Solar panels providing first-ever electricity
  • Children no longer miss school to fetch water

Looking Ahead

Our $140,000 program budget for the coming year will complete the school transformation and expand our reach.

01

Toilets & Changing Rooms

16 brand new hygienic toilets for 680 students. Girls’ facilities include showers and a private changing room.

$55,000
02

Food Security Program

The Porridge Program ensures no child leaves school hungry. 9 months × $2,500/month.

$22,500
03

Solar + Internet

Solar panels for electricity and internet connection. Computers donated by business technology recycling programs.

$12,000
04

Hen House & Milk Cow

Egg & milk supply for the school. Introduces animal husbandry to children of a nomadic community.

$10,000
05

Special Needs Classroom

Renovating a space so that children with disabilities can attend school for the first time.

$4,000
06

Assembly Hall

A covered dining pavilion where children can eat in all weather conditions and gather as a community.

$50,000*

*Assembly Hall contingent on donor pledge

A Message From Steven

Steven Ngowi, Chairman

Dear Friends, Partners, & Supporters,

It is my honor to share with you the Ndifo Community Development Foundation’s Annual Report for the year ended June 30, 2025. Within these pages, you will see the story of how compassion, partnership, and perseverance are reshaping lives in Tanzania.

My own journey with this work began not as a chairman, but as a safari guide in the fields near Arusha. In 2022, while birdwatching, I came upon Likamba Primary School. What I found there was heartbreaking: children packed five to a desk built for two, classrooms with crumbling floors, leaking roofs, and broken windows. Yet even in those conditions, the children’s faces shone with determination to learn. I could not look away.

Thanks to your generosity, Likamba Primary School is no longer the forgotten place I first stumbled upon. Today, over 680 children benefit from refurbished classrooms, a secure schoolyard, and — perhaps most importantly — a working kitchen that serves meals each day. Education, health, and community dignity are now taking root where despair once lived.

I want to thank each of you — our donors, volunteers, partners, and friends. You are part of this story. Your gifts are not only repairing buildings, they are restoring dignity. Together, we have already climbed great mountains. And together, we will climb the ones still ahead.

With sincere thanks & warm regards, asante sana,

Steven Ngowi
Chairman of the Board & Founding Board Member

Thank You

Members of the Board

  • Steve Ngowi — Chairman (TZ)
  • Jimmie Akin-Sherman — Secretary (USA)
  • F. Kenneth Vudmaska — Treasurer (USA)
  • Magreth Geddy (TZ)
  • Elizabeth “Betsy” Moyer (USA)
  • Christopher Burke (USA)

Special Thanks

The Roaringlion Fund — $10,000 donation completing the school kitchen.

Hen House Donors — Audrey Yang (who matched all initial donations), Barbara VanEvery, Joanne Wong, Gordon McKemie, Jan Paul Roodbol, Austin Jasienski.

J|Connelly & Hunt & Fish Club NYC — venue for our fundraising gala.

Founding Donors

Tracey & Jerry Vainisi · Allyson Pfeifer · Morris Chen · Katherine & Britt Joyce · Brigid Flanagan · Rudolph Garza · Steven Hopchick · Rick Lugash · Shilpa Akella · Hunter Downs · Cris Santa Ana · Nick Dalgety · Jack O’Brien · Rob Stanbrook · Scott Thomson · Tenny Grigorian · Youse Gula

Get Involved

Just as we guide visitors through Tanzania’s wildlife, we now guide
communities — and donors like you — toward hope, dignity, and lasting change.

💳 Donate Online

Visit ndifo.org to give directly or purchase a wildlife print by Chairman Steven Ngowi. All proceeds go to NCDF.

🙋 Volunteer

Marketing, social media, legal, accounting, teaching, or providing books & goods for the school.

📷 Buy a Print

Purchase stunning wildlife photography by Steven Ngowi at ndifo.org/shop. 100% of proceeds fund our work.

🏦 Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

Contact your financial advisor or log in to Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, BNY Mellon, or your DAF provider.

Recommend a grant to: Ndifo Community Development Foundation
EIN: 99-2860543  |  27 West Anapamu St. Suite 394, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Donate at ndifo.org