Cheka Sana Tanzania

Cheka Sana supports girls and young women at risk on the streets of Mwanza, Tanzania, by equipping them with the tools and knowledge they need to build independent and hopeful lives.

Pathways to independent lives

Domestic violence and poverty often push women in Mwanza onto the streets, where survival forces them into sex work, leading to unwanted pregnancies or increased vulnerability to health risks.

Cheka Sana offers a new path, supporting these women in starting a life away from the streets. The programme helps them develop skills through apprenticeships, guiding them towards self-sufficiency while offering sexual and reproductive health support to ensure their well-being.

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Cheka Sana’s outreach team works to identify street-connected women whose families are affected by extreme poverty and violence, circumstances that have often forced them to live on the streets and, at times, engage in sex work.

Cheka Sana offers these women the tools to build independent lives, beginning with psychosocial support to address their emotional and social needs. This is followed by life skills sessions designed to foster self-awareness, mutual trust and access to information about local health services, encouraging them to seek medical care when needed.

Cheka Sana’s use of group work and peer support is a key part of this process. The young women are enabled to form highly supportive peer groups with those who have had similar lived experiences and who understand the pressures and difficulties that they each face.

Cheka Sana’s use of group work and peer support is the key
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“One-to-one sessions, peer mediation, and psychosocial support gave me the chance to share my challenges and realise how I could determine my goals.” A participant in the Cheka Sana programme

Self-defence training groups further equip women with skills to protect themselves from abuse while building their confidence and ability to set boundaries, empowering them to take control of their futures.

Economic independence is the final step towards autonomy. Women are enrolled in apprenticeships such as tailoring, hairdressing, catering, and event decoration. With the support of a start-up kit, they can establish their own businesses and achieve financial security, enabling them to live in safer, more stable conditions away from the streets.

“My journey from a vulnerable street child to a mother and entrepreneur has shown me the transformative impact of Cheka Sana Tanzania. I can hardly believe I now see a bright future for myself and my children.” A participant in the Cheka Sana programme

With the support of a start-up kit, they can establish their own businesses
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Amos Trust is currently supporting Cheka Sana’s work with young mothers living on the streets and their children, as well as girls at risk of early pregnancy. This includes providing psychosocial support and counselling, entrepreneurship training to help them generate income, access to essential health services, and self-defence training.

Run Without Fear

We invited four young women from Cheka Sana Foundation in Tanzania, to join us in running the first Zanzibar Half Marathon for gender equality. This is their story.

Photography: Christoph Stulz and Tom Merilion

Street Justice resources

Take a look through our range of resources, including blog posts, downloads and products, to find out more about our Street Justice work.

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Seeds of Hope book More Thoughts and Reflections from Amos Trust

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Our second book of poetry, prose, creative writing and reflection is now available. ‘Seeds Of Hope: More Thoughts and Reflections from Amos Trust’ has contributions from Zena Kazeme, Arundhati Roy, Ben Okri, Cornel West, Angela Davis, Robert Cohen, Maya Angelou and our partner Abdelfattah Abusrour. “What a wonderful collection of writing — rich, deep, broad, funny, touching, angry, and, most importantly, encouraging.” Brian Eno — producer, musician, writer and artist.

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Street Justice Web gallery

Amos Street Justice images and films from our projects around the world – Burundi, India, South Africa and Tanzania. Images by Bex Morton, Jules Klass, Tom Merilion, Christoph Stulz and Wilf Whitty.

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Resources

Stories of Hope Doing Hope... in South Africa

April 2025 | FREE
Karin Joseph, Head of International Programmes at Amos Trust, has just returned from visiting our partner Umthombo in Durban, South Africa. Here, she writes an update on their work and how it continues to transform the lives of young people living in extremely dangerous situations.

Gender Justice

Living On Air Raising awareness for street children

Amos Communities Engagement Manager Katie Hagley shares her experience of living on £5 for 5 days. "Tomorrow my family and I will start Amos Trust’s '£5 For 5 Day' challenge to raise money and awareness for street-connected children." Read how she got on and whether her family are still talking to her!

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Kimbia Bila Shaka Run Without Fear

“I’ve never seen women overtake men before!” declared Mary as we sat and reflected on the race later that day. This run meant many other things for these girls too — it was the first time any of them had left Mwanza or flown on a plane, let alone completing the race and being awarded their medals! Amos Street Child lead worker Karin Joseph describes running the first Zanzibar Marathon with four new friends.

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When distance doesn’t matter Why the On Her Terms campaign is so important

What can a group of women, from cities thousands of miles apart, almost all of whom don’t speak the same language, hope to gain from spending a week together in the UK? Karin Joseph talks about some of the reasons why  Amos’ on her terms campaign are so important.

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Karunalaya: Teaching ambition Why small victories are so important

“In spite of our heartbreak over Mali’s decision, we can recognise the small victory that is Mali’s choice in this, her completion of exams at 16 and her knowledge of women’s rights.” Azey Bennetts writes about the importance of small victories when working with girls on the streets of India.

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Breathe Sharing our collective strength

“It’s like on a flight. When the flight attendant says, ‘Make sure you put your own breathing mask on first, before helping the person next to you.’ She is absolutely right. If we can’t breathe we are of no use to anyone.” Karin Joseph writes about the first On Her Terms conference in Devon in October 2018.

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Extreme Altitudes Climbing Kili for Amos Trust

“Climbing Kilimanjaro has been on my bucket list for some time. At 5,895 metres it is both the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world.” Neil Irving writes about ticking-off one item from his bucket list to raise funds for Amos Trust.

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