Our Story
Bricks + Books Foundation was created by a group of high school and college students who spent a month volunteering in rural Tanzania and were inspired to form a non-profit organization using a micro-finance model to support basic infrastructure improvements.
While in Tanzania, we witnessed an educational environment in need of improvement. We found inspiration in the vital passion for learning shared by Tanzanian students and teachers.
Our service-learning project taught us that education has extraordinary power to constructively alter the course of lives, and that extreme poverty, inadequate educational materials and a lack of infrastructure make it challenging for youth to excel.
After returning to the US, we decided to focus our energy on creating better conditions to improve the health, welfare, and education of Tanzanian students. We formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and raised funds for our first project. We were able to raise $25,000 for the construction of a new school and three toilets for the village where we first volunteered. In 2008, we returned to Tanzania and proudly joined the community in celebrating the opening of the new Moivaro Foundation School that now provides an education to 75 students.
In 2009, we returned to Tanzania to interview and hire a local manager to ensure the sustainability and success of future projects. During this trip, we identified new potential projects. Since then, the Bricks + Books community has continued to expand. Our projects demonstrate that we can make a profound difference in the lives of others. We hope that young people all over the world will learn about Bricks + Books, find validation in our successes and realize that they, too, have the capacity to affect positive change.
Our Vision
Bricks + Books is a youth-led initiative with two components:
1. On the ground support to facilitate rural development projects. Our model is to support and improve basic infrastructure in educational institutions and villages that have demonstrated an interest and capability to work collaboratively with us. Ingrained in this vision is to implement environmentally sustainable practices whenever fitting and possible.
2. Outreach and raising awareness regarding opportunities for like minded individuals to connect and build meaningful relationships in order to promote change. Our A Path Less Traveled and Pen-Pal projects are new endeavors aimed at encouraging relationship building across cultures and mobilizing our generation to take action.
