Nurturing attention, memory and confidence among children in Tanga

By Clifford Sangai, Program Communications Specialist, TangaYetu

Sixteen kilometres from Tanga Town, beyond the limestone caves of Amboni and along a stretch of road that narrows into Konazedi village, four-year-old Aisha begins her day.

To reach Konazedi, one must drive past Amboni, leaving behind the busier rhythms of town. The roadside shops thin out, traffic eases, and the landscape opens up. It is here, far from the commercial centre where private nurseries are commonly found, that Konazedi Community Daycare stands.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres are typically associated with urban neighbourhoods, closer to offices and formal workplaces. Konazedi challenges that assumption.

At eight o’clock sharp, Aisha slips off her sandals and joins her classmates in a chalk circle drawn on the classroom floor.

“Start, come inside, wait… inside, outside,” caregiver Madam Vick Mgonja calls out.

Aisha leans forward, concentrating. The instructions shift quickly. She pauses, listens carefully, and then jumps to the correct side. A classmate steps the wrong way and bursts into laughter.

“This game helps children become attentive and listen carefully to the teacher’s instructions,” Madam Vick explains.

It looks like ordinary play. But within that circle, children are strengthening attention, impulse control and working memory.

They are training their brains to listen, process information and respond appropriately. In the early years, such skills shape everything that follows.

Before structured stimulation

In Konazedi and similar peri-urban communities, early childhood has often unfolded without structured learning opportunities. Many children spent their mornings at home or outdoors while parents attended to household responsibilities.

Catherine Donato, a parent in the community, remembers how difficult it was before her son enrolled at the centre.

“Before my child attended here, there were many groups outside in the streets. He used to roam around,” she says.

Keeping constant watch was exhausting. “It was difficult to keep watching him all the time,” she adds.

The effects were not dramatic but noticeable. Some children could recite numbers yet struggled to apply them. Others had limited vocabulary or short attention spans. When they entered primary school, teachers often encountered varying levels of readiness.

Dr Samwel Mtullu, Project Manager at United Health for Tanzania Children (UHTC), a TangaYetu implementing partner, says those early years are critical.

“In early childhood development, we focus mainly on cognitive development,” he explains.

He points to research showing how rapidly the brain develops during the first years of life.

“It increases by 50 percent by 18 months and continues to grow significantly up to six years,” he says.

During this period, stimulation helps shape the neural connections responsible for memory, language, attention and reasoning. Without it, children risk beginning formal education already behind.

The Transforming Early Childhood Development in Tanga City through Community-Based Solutions Project, under the TangaYetu Programme, was designed to address precisely that gap. Across Tanga City, nine community daycare centres and nine pre-primary centres now operate in eight wards, serving 260 registered children in 2026.

Konazedi’s centre stands as proof that quality early learning need not be confined to urban areas.

Learning through purposeful play

After the circle game, Aisha moves to a wall chart where numbers are paired with images.

“When a child comes to the wall chart, they say, ‘This is number one and here there is an elephant,’” Madam Vick explains.

Aisha traces the number and names both the digit and the animal. She is not simply memorising. She is linking symbols with meaning, strengthening memory and expanding her vocabulary.

Moments later, the teacher shifts to animal identification. “Child, can you roar like a lion?” Madam Vick asks.

Aisha laughs and roars. The class discusses where different animals live. A zebra lives in the forest. A rabbit may be kept at home. Through such exchanges, children practise classification, recall and verbal reasoning.

In another activity, caregiver Diana Sekinyashi supervises block-building exercises.

“We provide materials for them to build. One builds a house, another builds a car,” she says.

Aisha stacks blocks carefully. When the structure collapses, she pauses, studies it and tries again. This is problem-solving in action. She tests, adjusts and learns from the outcome.

Teachers closely track individual progress.

“When we give assignments and later mark them, we go through each child one by one. That way we understand each child’s level of understanding,” Diana explains.

The focus is not on rushing children forward but on ensuring comprehension at every stage.

Changes seen at home

Parents say the impact is visible beyond the classroom walls.

“When my son returns home, he starts telling me, ‘Mama, today we studied one, two, three,’” Catherine says.

She has noticed steady improvement. “His understanding has increased compared to before,” she adds.

Khadija Ibrahim Masimba shares a similar experience. “He did not know how to count before. Now he knows how to count,” she says.

She has also observed progress in language development. “He can speak English and he can write,” she explains.

These changes reflect growth across multiple cognitive domains. Children recall lessons, strengthening memory. They use new vocabulary, enhancing language skills. They reason through games and building activities, sharpening their problem-solving abilities.

Some mornings, Catherine says, her child insists: “Mama, take me to school.” That eagerness reflects curiosity and confidence—qualities that cannot easily be measured but matter deeply in a child’s development.

A quiet shift beyond town

The presence of a structured ECD centre in Konazedi, 16 kilometres from Tanga Town and beyond Amboni’s well-known landmarks, signals a shift in how early learning is understood. It suggests that cognitive development should not depend on proximity to town or a family's ability to pay for private services.

For Dr Mtullu, the investment carries both immediate and long-term implications. “We have results now, but we also expect bigger results in the future,” he says.

As the afternoon light filters into the classroom, Aisha sits attentively during story time. “What animal lives in the forest?” the teacher asks.

Aisha raises her hand. “Zebra,” she answers confidently. It is a simple response. Yet within it lies memory, comprehension and the confidence to speak.

In a place where ECD centres were once uncommon, young children are learning to listen, reason and express themselves. They are developing the foundations they need to succeed in school and beyond.

Honoring IDAC

As Africa prepares to mark the International Day of the African Child under the 2026 theme, “Ensuring universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene for every child in Africa,” Aisha’s story is a reminder that children thrive when the foundations for healthy development are in place.

Alongside access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, quality early learning opportunities help children build the skills, confidence and resilience they need to reach their full potential.

And in those small, daily moments, the distance from town feels less important than the direction of change.

The TangaYetu program is funded by Fondation Botnar and managed by INNOVEX Development Consulting Limited in collaboration with Tanga City Council, making Tanga a city where youth thrive.