Halima Msangi
Founder and Director
From day care to a full primary school
Head Start began with a straightforward observation and a refusal to look away: in Moshi, as across Tanzania, children from poor families face an educational system that is chronically underfunded and overstretched. Talented, curious children were being left behind — not for lack of ability, but for lack of access.
The school's story began in 2018, when Daniel Commins and his wife Lia Kiladis came to Moshi to volunteer at Mzalendo Primary School in the underprivileged Pasua neighborhood of Moshi.
In 2019, Daniel asked Halima Msangi, then Principal of Mzalendo, to identify five seventh-grade girls with strong academic potential but limited financial means, with the aim of sponsoring them through to higher education. Working with the school's academic committee, Halima conducted a thorough selection process and chose five students: Sia Godson, Grace Mjema, Aziza Hashim, Winifrida Joseph, and Shufaa Ally.
Daniel covered all educational expenses for the four years of secondary school — tuition, uniforms, and supplies — for each of the five girls. They studied with dedication and excelled in their final examinations: Grace Mjema, Aziza Hashim, and Winifrida Joseph were each selected for higher education, Sia Godson for nursing college, and Shufaa Ally for a technical college.
The experiment was a success. The ambition, now, is to build on Daniel's vision and scale the school into a sustainable educational programme.
The Head Start Foundation was created to extend that opportunity to a greater number of children, starting from the very beginning: the first classrooms are pre-primary, those most formative years where a strong foundation makes the greatest difference. By pairing children from disadvantaged backgrounds with peers from financially stable families, the school creates both a funding model and a social environment that benefits every pupil. With expansion, the school will provide employment opportunities for qualified teachers, cooks, administrators, and security guards.
The early results of the Head Start Foundation School have spoken for themselves. Children have thrived. Families trust the model. The community has rallied around a school that asks only that those who could, give a little — so that those who couldn't, could receive a lot.
2020 — Opening
Day care classes launched in Moshi. First cohort of pupils enrolled.
2022 — Growth phase
Enrollment jumps from 25 to 55. Building is repainted and new furniture is purchased to keep up with demand. An additional plot of land is purchased for a modest school extension.
Today
Head Start Foundation School now seeks to expand into Standards I–VII — a full primary education — serving a new generation of pupils all the way to secondary school entry by building new facilities. The Municipality of Moshi shows support for a larger expansion through the purchase of additional terrain. Land negotiation and project studies begin.
