THE CHALLENGE

Hello, my name is Silvio Cimenti, and I am 57 years old. You may remember me from last year’s GoFundMe challenge for the same project. This year, I am fundraising again for Kuunganisha, a project launched in 2025 by The ItinerAnts to support the Tumaini Foundation in Tanzania, helping local orphans and widows.

I am reaching out to everyone— philanthropists, patrons, sponsors, donors, and anyone with a big heart to sponsor me as I walk from Eastbourne to Lewes in East Sussex, England — approximately 27 km (16.8 miles) — at 6am, Saturday 17th January 2026.

A knee injury prevents me from running this year… BUT I can walk!

My challenge this year will cross the South Downs with a total ascent of around 900–1,000 metres carrying around 10Kg of water, food and warm clothes—just to make the challenge more challenging—and should take approximately 7-8 hours. So this will be no easy stroll!

Every contribution, however small, makes a real difference.

Thank you for your generosity.

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT AND HOW WAS IT BORN?

KUUNGANISHA—which means "connecting" in Swahili—is a project by The ItinerAnts to reach rural communities in Tanzania.

In 2025, the ItinerAnts’ team of ten artists from Canada, Italy, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the UK worked with communities in the Dodoma region, running performances, workshops, storytelling, puppet and mask-making sessions, and painting activities. The programme culminated in a pilot three-day Children’s Arts Festival in Ihumwa.

RESULTS FROM 2025

Thanks to your donations last year, we:

• Funded 10 international artists to interact with isolated communities for five weeks.

• Reached over 9,000 people.

• Planted 19 fruit trees near schools in Ihumwa and Gairo.

• Paid for Marietha’s schooling for one year, a little girl born with a disability and isolated from her family.

I followed the team to Tanzania to film and document the project, see below.

KUUNGANISHA 2026 – Embracing Communities Through the Arts

Following the success of last year, we will be returning to continue, and deepen, this work and launch the first official "Kuunganisha International Children’s Community Arts Festival".

A team of 23 international and local artists will work for 8 weeks across villages and schools in Kigamburi (Dar es Salaam), Mafia island, Ihumwa, Gairo, Dodoma and Mayamaya.

The focus of this next phase is not only to run workshops and performances, but to train and empower Tanzanian artists and producers so that the project can eventually be led and sustained locally.

This year’s activities will include:

• Arts, music and storytelling workshops for children and widows

• Puppet and mask-making sessions

• Theatre and street performances in villages and schools

• Work with special needs children and inclusive schools

• Community performances and parades

• Preparation for the 1st official International Children’s Community Arts Festival (1st - 8th March)

The festival theme is “Insects & Humans”, inspired by the connection between people, nature and the land we share.

Funds raised through this page will go towards:

• Art materials and workshop supplies

• Transport to rural and remote communities

• Festival costs (sets, props, sound, space, logistics)

• Training for Tanzanian artists and organisers

Follow our journey on Instagram: @kuunganishaproject

Every donation helps — whether £5 or £500 — you are directly supporting children and widows who rarely get the chance to experience art in this way, as well as helping us build something that will continue long after we leave.

Asante sana (thank you so much) for being part of Kuunganisha 2026!

ABOUT THE TUMAINI FOUNDATION

The Tumaini Foundation, based in Ihumwa near Dodoma, is an NGO dedicated to improving the lives of orphans and widows. Since its founding in 2008 by Tumaini Kivuyo—herself an orphan who endured immense hardship—the foundation has supported hundreds of children and widows in Tanzania's capital region. Tumaini’s mission is to provide hope and equal access to education for orphans, children with special needs, and widows. Learn more: https://www.tumaini-foundation.org/about