Hi! My name is Gabriel and I am from Salvador, Brazil, currently in Chicago getting my MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Since 2021, my hometown friend Pedro and I have been supporting Savvy Brain Academy in rural Tanzania, where my love for education truly started.

How I First Met William & Savvy Brain

In January 2021 my life changed because of a small school in a village called Bujora in Tanzania.

Pedro and I have always loved to travel, but I felt a growing desire to do more than just visit new places. We wanted to contribute and learn deeply from another culture while being useful in a real way.

I found William and Savvy Brain 1.0 through a platform called Worldpackers. Something about William’s story and the photos of the kids stayed with us. Pedro and I decided to go.

2021 - My First Time in Bujora

We left Brazil to volunteer at Savvy Brain 1.0 for five weeks.

We lived with William and his family, sharing meals, stories, and daily life. In just a few weeks, Tanzania felt like a second home. As volunteers, Pedro and I taught classes in math, english, and life skills and helped the teachers organize and manage the school.

Savvy Brain 1.0 could host only about 30 children ages 2 to 7, giving the youngest kids in the village a safe place to learn and eat every day. As a charitable school, Savvy Brain takes in children in extreme situations, from government lists, who need free education and food. But William knew that once those children turned 8, most of them would have nowhere else to go.

His dream was to change that. He wanted to build a new Savvy Brain that would go all the way through Grade 7 (around 13 years old), so children could keep learning and be prepared to take the PSLE, the exam they need to pass to enter high school.

That dream quickly became ours. When we asked, "What would it take to create Savvy Brain 2.0?" William gave us clear steps: first, we needed funds to buy specific curriculum books to obtain government authorization. With help from friends and family, we quickly reached that goal and more. With these donations we had enough money to start building Savvy Brain 2.0.

One of my favorite memories from that year is walking with William and Pedro across an empty piece of land, using sticks to mark where future classrooms could go. At that moment it was just red earth and our imagination.

A Little About Bujora & Why School Until Grade 7 Matters So Much

In rural areas like Bujora, there are huge barriers to education. Many families cannot afford uniforms, transport, food, or school fees. Some children must work or help at home instead of attending school regularly.

In Tanzania, at the end of Grade 7, students take a very difficult national exam called the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). It decides if they can move on to secondary school, what we consider high school. Kids who do not pass cannot retake it and must stop their education path. Those children, and the ones who never get the chance to take it at all, normally end up in informal work at a very young age and the cycle of poverty continues.

2022 - Building Savvy Brain 2.0 and Surviving a Storm

With Construction of Savvy Brain 2.0 began in 2021 and continued through 2022.

Halfway through, a severe storm hit Bujora and destroyed the roofs of two nearly finished classrooms and damaged the toilets. Overnight, a large part of what we had invested was gone.

It was a very hard moment but thanks to the generosity of donors, we rebuilt and kept going.

2023 - The New School Opens

In September 2023, Savvy Brain 2.0 was finally completed.

Together with the original building, the school can host more than 300 students from ages 2 to 13, all the way through Grade 7.

Today we have around 210 students. We are growing carefully so we can meet each child’s needs and bring on the right teachers and staff. Our goal is to increase enrollment each year until we reach full capacity.

2024 - Our First Full School Year, Academic Success & Projeto Kelimu

2024 was our first full school year with both buildings operating. Walking through the new classrooms, seeing the kids in their uniforms, hearing them sing and recite lessons, felt like that day with the sticks in the ground had finally come to life.

At the end of 2024, our Grade 4 students took the National Standard Four Assessment (SFNA) and Savvy Brain ranked 3rd out of 130 schools in our district. This shows how hard the kids are working, how committed William and the teachers are, and how quickly support from donors turns into real opportunities for these children.

2024 was also the year Pedro and I founded Projeto Kelimu, a non-profit organization whose goal is to transform the lives of children through education in communities that need it the most. Through our community of monthly donors, we are able to support ongoing operating costs at Savvy Brain, such as teacher salaries, food, and materials.

2025 - Laptops and Dreaming Even Bigger

In 2025, the school continued to grow, along with the support Savvy Brain receives from volunteers around the world.

A German volunteer, Miriam Heger, spent time at Savvy Brain and, like us, fell in love with the project. She raised funds to bring laptops to the school for the first time.

Introducing technology has already improved learning, helped students gain modern skills, and inspired us to think even bigger. We have broken ground on a dedicated computer lab so we can have a proper space for digital learning and eventually move away from relying on a generator for electricity.

2026 and Beyond - Our First Graduation and the Need for Dormitories

I am writing this after visiting Savvy Brain again in December 2025.

In 2026, Savvy Brain will have its first Grade 7 graduation - our first class of 13 year olds who have grown with the school and will sit for the PSLE. These are the same kids who, without Savvy Brain 2.0 and our donors, would likely have stopped studying around age 7.

Taking the PSLE is a critical moment in their lives.

In Tanzania, it is common for schools to offer dormitory spaces for students in their final year. Having a safe place to live at the school helps them stay focused on their studies, avoid long and sometimes unsafe commutes, and step away from unstable home environments during this intense period.

When I asked William what the next big priority should be for Savvy Brain, his answer was clear: dormitories.

Just like in 2021, we once again walked a piece of empty land together. This time, instead of classrooms, we imagined the dormitories that could give our most vulnerable students a safe home and the best chance to continue their education.

What We Are Raising Money For Now

We are now asking for your help to give these children not only a place to learn, but also a safe place to live. Our goals are ambitious and deeply needed, so we are approaching them in stages.

Initial Goal - 14,500 USD for the First Two Projects

1. Build two dormitories for 20 students - 12,000 USD

We want to build two dormitories that can house 20 students - 10 boys and 10 girls.

Priority will go to Grade 7 students preparing for the PSLE so they can live at school during this crucial year and focus fully on their studies. Remaining spaces will be used for children who currently have nowhere safe to go, including kids living on the streets or in extremely unstable situations.

This first step will let us offer a 24/7 safe home to the children who need it most and support our first graduating classes through one of the most important exams of their lives.

2. Repair and reinforce existing classrooms - 2,500 USD

Some of our classrooms, especially the floors, are now in critical condition. These repairs may sound simple, but they are essential for safety, hygiene, helping kids learn in a clean, solid space, and protecting the investments already made in the buildings.

Together, these two projects make up our initial fundraising target of 13,000 USD. Once we reach this amount, we will expand the campaign to begin funding our next projects.

Next Goals - Expanding Our Vision

3. Finish the computer lab and bring stable electricity to the school - 14,000 USD

We have already started building a dedicated computer lab, but we need additional funds to complete it. This will allow us to equip the lab with computers and furniture, digitalize books and teaching materials, and bring a more stable electricity solution to the school. A finished computer lab will open up entirely new learning possibilities for hundreds of children each year.

4. Expand dormitories to house up to 120 students - 40,000 USD

Our long term dream is to create enough dormitory space for up to 120 students.

Right now, children can only attend if their own families or foster families can house them. Many children never get the chance to join Savvy Brain because there is no safe home to place them in.

With expanded dormitories, we will be able to welcome up to 120 children who have no families or no safe place to live and provide them with a stable home, nutritious meals, and quality education.

How You Can Help

Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to:

If you have read this far, thank you. Savvy Brain has already transformed from a tiny classroom and some sticks in the ground into a school that is changing lives. That only happened because people around the world chose to care.

We are deeply grateful for any support you can give - whether it is a donation, sharing this campaign, or simply keeping these kids and this community in your thoughts.

Together, we can help them build brighter futures.