In view of the widespread poverty which seriously affects children and young people, SOS-Kinderdorf International decided to build an SOS Children's Village on mainland Tanzania in 1994. Arusha, which is a city in northern Tanzania with approximately 90,000 inhabitants, was chosen as the location for the new SOS Children's Village. An SOS Kindergarten and an SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary and Secondary School have been added to SOS Children's Village Arusha. As a result of the widespread poverty and the great demand for care centres for orphans, SOS-Kinderdorf International decided to build an SOS Children's Village and an SOS Kindergarten in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. Construction work started at the beginning of 2005 and was completed in 2006. Read more...

Arusha is, in every respect, an expanding city which lives mainly from tourism. Since the first piece of land made available proved to be unsuitable, the government provided a new piece of land for free in 1996, on the outskirts of Arusha. The cornerstone laying ceremony took place on 24 October 1998, in the presence of numerous guests of honour such as the local clan leaders, the village elders, the mayor of Arusha, and representatives of the SOS Children's Villages Regional Office for East Africa. In May 2000, the first children were able to move into their new family homes. Read more...