About Us
Tanzania is located in East Africa, just south of Kenya, and shares its eastern border with the Indian Ocean. It is the 27th largest country in the world, in terms of population with over 42 million people. However, Tanzania ranks in the lowest percentage of the world in many other statistical areas that tell a grim story of their economic and social challenges: infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, life expectancy, HIV/AIDS population, annual per capita income, and so on.
Not only does Tanzania have an estimated almost 4 million orphans, that number grows every day. To help combat this disturbing trend, Small Steps for Compassion was established in 2010 when Shannin Pickle, our founder, brought a dream and a drive to build an orphanage to help these abandoned children. Our board members now work together to help realize that dream. Please take a moment to Meet Our Team.
While progress is sometimes slow, we have had good headway in our efforts here. We purchased our own land: 11 acres with an existing house, and plenty of room to build more buildings and facilities to help house as many children as we can. It is located on the slopes of Mt. Meru, the second largest mountain in Tanzania, with nearby views of Mt. Kilimanjaro the largest mountain in Africa. We broke ground on our first new home for the property in July 2013 with the progress going well. Two more buildings are also in the works, as well as dreams of community outreach and medical care and we are truly excited for the advancements that we have made.
