Making a Difference: A ‘Neema’ in Tanzania

Mandy Stein, a graduate of The Emery/Weiner School, founded a nonprofit organization called Neema International in Tanzania. She spends her time living and working with the orphans at the Tuleeni Orphanage and initiated fundraising for the new Tuleeni Orphanage and Early Childhood Education Center.

Today Mandy Stein is celebrating her 25th birthday and her fifth anniversary of her time spent in Tanzania. She’s also celebrating the Grand Opening of the Tuleeni Orphanage and Early Childhood Education Center, which has been one of her goals from the very beginning.

Mandy’s first visit to Tanzania was in June 2011. At the time, she was a student at The University of Texas at Austin and was participating in a program called Cross Cultural Solutions. She was volunteering with the children at the Tuleeni Orphanage, instantly fell in love with the kids (“tuleeni” means care for us in Swahili) and has been helping to take care of them ever since.

She returned to Africa every chance she could – winter and summer breaks from school – and upon graduating from UT, Mandy moved there permanently. She frequently says that this is her life calling. She spoke to the fact that many volunteers who worked with the children worked there on a short term basis.

Mandy Stein spends her time caring for many of the orphans at Tuleeni and has taken a toddler, Baraka, into her home. 

“I didn’t want to be the one who left,” the Emery/Weiner graduate often told her parents, Julie and Ronnie Stein.  

Mandy founded and became executive director of a nonprofit organization called Neema International (“Neema” means blessing or grace in Swahili), which aims to improve the lives of East Africa’s youth. She spends her time working and living with the Tuleeni orphans and works closely with the orphanage’s founder, “Mama Faraji.” Mandy has become like a mother herself, caring for many orphans and even taking one toddler named Baraka into her home.

The Buzz initially featured Mandy in March 2014 in “Neighbors Changing the World” by Andria Frankfort and we’re so impressed to share that she has continued changing the world for the better every day since.

The new Tuleeni Orphanage and Early Childhood Education Center will include a new, clean space for the children to live in and learn. It will include clean water, solar power to provide electricity, a more efficient way to provide food and it will even include Internet access.

Mandy continues to fundraise for the daily costs of maintaining this new facility. Recently, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with her mom, Julie, to raise funds for the new facility. Read more about their Kilimanjaro fundraising initiative here.

Happy 25th birthday, Mandy, and congratulations on your incredible success and legacy in Tanzania.