During a safari in the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania in February of 2018, Winona Perry, our president, stopped in the village of Tloma to visit the children of Tloma Primary School. She returned four months later and spent the summer there. Living in the village, getting to know the children and their families, visiting their homes, hearing their stories, sharing in their triumphs and sorrows, these experiences changed her life and gave Winona a better perspective on the challenges they face.
Winona began searching for an established non-profit through which she could send the donations for Tloma Primary School that she had been receiving. She found one, but their scope was too narrow and could not accommodate her main goal of supporting as many students as possible.
Numerous inquiries and requests from others who likewise wanted to help the students of Tloma Primary School resulted in the decision to set up a new non-profit. Jonna Holland and Jim Swallow soon joined Winona and they became the founding board members. They formed Tloma Giving for the purpose of “[providing] support to foster the health, education, social, and economic development of the residents and families of the low-income and underserved Tloma region of the Karatu District, Arusha, Tanzania.”