Help Destinee bring yoga and wellness to Tanzania

Introduction

Hi, my name is Destinee, owner of Simply Destinee Unique a Healing Arts Company. We are raising funds for our new yoga and dance studio in Tanzania, East Africa. In Dar es Salaam as sedentary lifestyles increase so do poor health outcomes. We want to help get ahead of the problem. It is important to remind the people of the successes of their ancestors with movement and health and create a proper facility where these skills can be maintained and new skills can be developed.

I taught yoga in South Los Angeles for 6 years. I was able to teach many new practitioners about the benefits of yoga and how it can help with stress management, chronic pain and be used to keep the body healthy and strong. I am confident that I will be able to use many of the same skills and techniques with the people of Tanzania. In my practice, I also used dance as a way to help people release stress from the body and a fun way to incorporate aerobic exercise. With dance being a big part of African culture I know that a quality facility to practice movement will be well received and will offer the community a sacred place for wellness, fitness and so much more.

The Project

This project will allow us to offer yoga, dance, wellness courses and other enrichment activities for the community of Mbweni, Tanzania. Mbweni, is a developing community in Dar es Salaam, with very few places for wellness and enrichment activities. The area is mostly residential with many primary and secondary schools. The vision is to start with this studio to access the desires of the community while also providing health and wellness, yoga, dance courses, jobs, and enrichment activities for the youth after school and during the summer months. We have currently started renovating the space for our studio, but need financial help with finalizing the studio and to have enough funds to pay our teachers for the first year while we build our reputation in the community.

Why the need?

In Africa, it is common to build structures out of concrete. This is done because of the sturdiness of concrete, porosity, fire resistance and economic accessibility (amongst other reasons) however, concrete is not ideal to dance on. There is no shock absorption, so it is not good for your joints. We desire to provide a state-of-the-art spring floor for yoga practitioners, dancers, aerial artists, and martial artists. This will set us aside from other yoga and dance studios in the country. Traditional dancing is usually done outside on the earth, but we want to incorporate a proper facility to practice indoors as well. We will also be raising awareness about the benefits of yoga for stress management and health maintenance.

What we need.

The facility is 70 square meters. The materials and installation of the wooden floor will cost about $3000. Additional cost includes mirrors, purchase and installation, paint, front door, signage, ballet bars, yoga mats, blocks, and bolsters which will be approximately $3000. The remaining $4000 will be set aside to pay our teachers for one year. We will also host and pay 1 master teacher to come from the village to teach a 3-day traditional dance workshop once a year.

Our Commitment

With your support, we will be able to provide a space for yoga, wellness, fitness and enrichment and reinforce the importance of health, self-mastery and artistic expression. We are committed to practicing kuumba/creativity, the art of leaving things more beautiful than we inherited them.

Life is not all about work and education. There are so many parts of human expression that must be developed and nurtured for human beings and communities to thrive. Join us in our efforts in helping others unlock their unique destiny through yoga, dance, art and wellness education and support.

Namaste

With Sincere Gratitude

The SDU Team