• Building a generation of

    problem solvers

  • bridging the gap between

    theory and practice

  • accelerating

    social innovation

WE EMPOWER PEOPLE TO DESIGN AND MAKE THEIR OWN​ TECHNOLOGIES TO SOLVE COMMUNITY CHALLENGES.

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Years Of Experience
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Successful Prototypes
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Tech Products Developed
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Tech Users

What We do

Twende, is a Tanzanian-based non-governmental organization, dealing with the innovation of technologies to solve community challenges.  We run programs ranging from one day of training to 8 weeks of training encouraging creativity and innovative thinking. We seek out participants, from primary school students to community members. 

We introduce them to mechanical and electrical crafts and to the process of thinking about the challenges in their everyday lives and those of their families and communities.  In the shorter programs they get to make some small devices under instruction.  In the longer ones they create prototypes of devices that could meet the challenge they have identified.  We encourage the more enthusiastic innovators with the most promising prototypes to take them forward towards a product which can be manufactured at scale, distributed, sold, serviced and used for the mutual benefit of everyone concerned and to contribute to the growth of the Tanzanian economy and poverty alleviation.

Twende has two maker spaces; workshops where participants in our programs can construct their prototypes.  One is at our headquarters in Arusha city and the other is at Orkolili Secondary School and Vocational Training Centre, in Kilimanjaro Region.

We also welcome anyone with an idea to visit us and use our maker spaces to work on their prototypes.  These can be alumni from our programs and others who have a talent for creativity and an idea.

Primary students chose to make floor squeezees in their Built-It session in the Arusha innovation hub.

Students at Orkolili try their hands at making bottle openers during a Build-It session at that innovation hub.

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