By Mark Eckel

She grew up in Washington D.C., and spent the better part of her adult life in New York City after graduating from Columbia University, so how did Sarah Rosenbloom end up in Tanzania?  

“I reached a place of complacency in my life and I was looking for that something extra,’’ Rosenbloom, who was working as book publicist, said. “But I never intended to completely change my career path. I thought I would go for six months and see a different side of life, and then come back to New York and get back in publishing.’’

That was in 2007. Six years later, Rosenbloom spends more than half of the year in Tanzania, comes back to New York occasionally, has never gotten back into publishing and has started The Toa Nafasi Project to help the children of Tanzania. 

“Africa changed me,’’ she says. “Something changed me.’’

The change began when she first went to Africa in 2007 as a voluntary nursery school teacher. One thing led to another and the now she is calling Tanzania home.

“I started looking at different programs most of them were either in Kenya or Tanzania in the East or in the West, a few in South Africa,’’ Rosenbloom recalled. “I didn’t want to do Peace Corps, because that was a two-year time commitment. When I researched all the areas, Tanzania was the most interesting to me.’’

Although she had never been there before, it didn’t take her long to fall in love.

“I loved it right from the start,’’ Rosenbloom said. “Tanzania was beautiful. Kilimanjaro was beautiful. The people were great. I just felt a kinship with the people there and the work I was doing.’’

Originally, the work was teaching. Now, she is running the project whose vision is to provide every Tanzanian child a chance to receive a quality primary education that fosters individual talent and celebrates uniqueness.

“I had never taught before, but I loved kids. That was the big thing I always loved kids,’’ Sarah says. “I believe very strongly in education and the powers of education that it can get you to the next step. I’m so lucky to have had the education that I had.’’

Rosenbloom used her education and ability to learn different languages to her advantage. She taught her classes in Swahili, which she learned while in Tanzania, and after her six month stay was up, she knew she needed more.  

 “I came back and I missed it,’’ she said. “I felt a strong attachment to the country as a whole, but the people as well. I had found a place for myself that I didn’t have here. I went back and got a job with the same people, but was getting paid now, not as a volunteer.’’

After three years, she decided to start the foundation.

“The idea for special needs in Tanzania came to me from working there as a volunteer in ’07.  I saw that there was a gap that needed to be filled. I was passionate about it.’’

With bigger issues all around them, it was hard for Sarah to get anyone to listen to her needs for better learning materials and such for the children.

“My Dad told me why not start my own foundation. I didn’t have any idea how to do that,’’ she said. “He said ‘it’s easy.’ I said ‘sure.’ Fortunately, he’s a tax lawyer and knew all the right people, so it really wasn’t that hard.’’

The pilot project got off the ground early in 2013 and the first rollout was completed in August. Rosenbloom was home for a brief time this winter, saw her family, some old friends, had time to put together a fund raiser for the project, but headed back to Tanzania just before Christmas

“I love it there,’’ she said. “And in the village, they love me. The kids I first taught in 2007 are 12 and 13 now. I’ve watched them grow up. It’s amazing. What’s really gratifying is they see I’m still there, they trust me. When I say I want to try something, Toa Nafasi, they know I’m there for them.’’

Toa Nafasi translates to “provide a chance’’ and that’s what Sarah and her group are trying to do. While there is certainly a need for supplies and resources, for the program to thrive what it really needs is money for operational costs, for tutors and teachers to give the children the one on one instruction they need.

“What they really need is someone to look at them, and know who you are, where you are,’’ Rosenbloom says “In a classroom of 80 kids, with one teacher and one aide they’re not getting that. The crucial thing is individual attention. I’m here, you’re an individual, I know your name, you mean something to me.’’

Tanzania and now Toa Nafasi has meant a lot to Sarah Rosenbloom. She never says never, but it appears her days in publishing are over.

“It’s extremely rewarding, it’s extremely gratifying,’’ she says of her new life. “I’d like to scale it up, but we’ve done a lot in a year.’’

To learn more about the Toa Nafasi Project go to www.toanafasi.org