🐾 Conservation With Purpose
The Nanyaro Foundation
Our community school in Manyara, Tanzania, and the long-term commitment behind it. Every dollar goes straight to the ground.
One Operation, Pointed at Something Lasting
Kingse runs on a simple promise. The people who plan your safari are the same people who run it on the ground in Tanzania. The Nanyaro Foundation is the other half of that promise, the way we use what we've built to put something back into the communities at the edge of the parks we work in.
We named it after the family of Peter Nanyaro, one of our senior guides. Pete's father was a pastor in the area and his family were farmers, so this one is personal. The Foundation is how Kingse backs community projects across Tanzania, one at a time, and sees each one through. This is where it starts.
Where Things Stand Today
Our first project is a small school that teaches the youngest children, a pre-primary class and the early grades. It runs out of a few old rented buildings, and the land beneath them, ground that once belonged to Pete's family, was taken by the bank over an old dispute and was headed for auction.
That's now settled. In July 2026 Kingse bought the land back outright, A$38,000 paid by the business directly, not by donations. In September a borehole was drilled, and it found far more clean water than the school needs. The power is on too.
The school itself has changed as well. It began as a church school. The pastor who ran it has moved on, and it's now a community school, run by the Nanyaro Foundation together with the parents. The Foundation pays the teachers and keeps the classrooms stocked. Families pay a small school fee, and all of it goes to the teachers' wages.
🐾 The Plan
The Projects, And Where They're Up To
We're not promising it all at once. We're doing it in the order that matters, starting with what everything else depends on.
Secure the land
Bought back outright in July 2026, A$38,000 funded directly by Kingse. The ground under the school is in safe hands for good.
Water & power
A borehole drilled in September 2026, with more clean water than the school needs, and the power connected.
Teachers & supplies
The classrooms were restocked in October 2026 and two teachers are paid through to the end of term. The teacher fund we're setting up takes it from there.
Toilets & classrooms
Proper toilets, then real classrooms to replace the old rented rooms, so the school can grow.
A full primary school
Grown year by year, grade by grade, so a child who starts here can finish here.
🐾 Latest From the School
October 2026: The School, Restocked
When the school became a community school, the classrooms had to be set up again almost from scratch. So ahead of the new term Kingse sent A$6,441 to restock it, get everything there, and pay two teachers through to December.
📚 In the classrooms
- 4 blackboards, with chalk, erasers and rulers
- 20 chairs and tables for the little ones
- 10 desks for the older students
- 5 chairs for the teachers
- 4 sleeping mats for nap time
- Books for nursery, pre-unit and middle class, in maths, English, Swahili, science and arts
- An attendance book
💧 Water and kitchen
- A 1,000 litre water storage tank and a water drum
- 60 plates, cups and spoons
- 4 big hotpots and 2 cooking pans
- Stirring spoons and a washbasin
- Buckets for the kitchen and toilets
🍲 On the table
- Food to finish the term: maize, beans, rice, cooking oil, porridge, bananas, breakfast snacks, sugar, meat and spices
👩🏾🏫 The people
- Two teachers' wages, October to December
- Transport to get it all to the school
A$6,441 all up (TSh 11,400,000), paid by Kingse in October 2026. From next term the school fees families pay are meant to cover the teachers, and the Foundation keeps backing the rest as the school grows.
🐾 What We're Raising For Right Now
Get the School Standing
The land's secured and the water and power are in. Next up is proper toilets and real classrooms. Watch the bar fill as we get there, every dollar goes straight to the ground.
Land secured, July 2026
A$38,000, funded directly by Kingse, not from donations.
Secure donations through GoFundMe. We cover the fees ourselves, so 100% reaches the ground. We're not a registered charity, so donations aren't tax-deductible, they go straight to the kids.
🐾 What We're Building Next
Every Trip Will Pay a Teacher
Buildings are the easy part. A school lives or dies on whether there's a teacher in the room next year, and the year after that. So we're setting up something that doesn't depend on fundraising at all.
from every traveller on every Kingse safari, into the teacher fund. That's the plan we're working to.
It won't be added to your trip. It comes out of what we earn, on every booking, whether anyone asks us to or not. A family of four will put A$800 into that classroom just by travelling with us.
We're registering the foundation properly in Tanzania first, so the money has a proper home and the school has one too. The fund starts the day that's done.
Nobody's waiting on that, though. Kingse is already paying the school's two teachers through to the end of this term, and the school fees families pay go straight to wages.
That's what it will pay for, in this order:
Teachers first. Paid properly, paid on time, every month, so nobody leaves mid year.
Somewhere for them to live. Good teachers won't come to a village with nowhere to stay. Housing is what brings them.
Then books, desks and uniforms, topped up each year rather than bought once and forgotten.
Once it's running, if you're travelling with us and you'd like to match what we put in, or put in more, just say the word and we'll point you the right way. Plenty won't, and that's completely fine. The teacher gets paid either way.
You'll Probably Meet Them
On most of our Tanzania trips the road past Lake Manyara is already part of the route, usually on the way in or out of the northern circuit. Guests who'd like to are welcome to stop in at the school, meet the kids, and see exactly where the foundation's work goes.
There's no staged voluntourism and no pressure. Just an honest look at the community behind the safari. Plenty of guests have ended up helping out after a visit, in their own way and on their own terms. That part is always their call, never built into the trip.
Why We're Doing This
We spend our working lives showing people the wild side of Tanzania. The communities at the edge of those parks are part of the same story, and Manyara is Pete's. Putting something back where he's from felt less like charity and more like finishing a sentence we'd already started.
Common Questions
Can I visit the school on my safari?
Yes, if you'd like to. On most of our Tanzania trips the road past Lake Manyara is already part of the route, usually on the way in or out of the northern circuit. If you want to include a visit, just tell us when we're planning your trip. It's always optional and never built into the price.
Is this voluntourism?
No. We don't run staged volunteering or put guests to work for photos. A visit is simply an honest look at the community and the school the foundation supports. What you do beyond that is entirely your call.
Can I donate to the Nanyaro Foundation?
Yes. You can give directly through the donate button on this page, handled securely through GoFundMe. We cover the platform and transfer fees ourselves, so 100% of what you give reaches the ground. If you'd rather talk it through first, just get in touch.
What does the foundation actually pay for?
The land is sorted. It had been taken by the bank over an old dispute and was headed for auction, and in July 2026 Kingse bought it back outright, funded directly by the business, not by donations. Water and power went in during September 2026, and in October Kingse restocked the classrooms and covered the teachers through to the end of term. From here your donations go to proper toilets, then real classrooms, then keeping teachers paid and supplies on the shelves, and over time growing it into a full primary school so a child who starts here can finish here.
Who runs the school?
The Nanyaro Foundation does, together with the parents and the local community. It started out as a church school and became a community school in 2026. The Foundation pays the teachers and keeps the classrooms stocked, and the small school fees families pay go straight to the teachers' wages.
Is a school visit suitable for children?
Yes. It's one of the parts of a trip that travelling families remember most, and the kids on both sides tend to get on immediately.
Want to be part of it?
If you're travelling with us, you're welcome to stop in at the school, meet the kids and see exactly where the work goes. If you'd like to help from afar, every donation goes straight to the ground.
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Talk to a real person
Pick up the phone if you'd rather talk it through. We spend a good part of the year moving between Australia and Africa, so if we miss you, WhatsApp the same number and we'll come back to you whatever the time zone.
Samara Imhoof
Bookings & Client Care
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Jackson Potter
Founder
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