About APV

Africa’s Promise Village (APV) began as the brainchild of four quasi-retired educators during the summer of 2010. While on a trip to Arusha, Tanzania, Dr. Donna Gunn, APV’s founder and president, was so struck by the poverty and deprivation of the many children that she encountered that she resolved to dedicate her life to solving the problems of health and education for the people of Tanzania.

A life-long educator and administrator, Dr. Gunn (pictured right) understands that any meaningful and sustained changes for people come through education and resulting economic growth. To that end, APV’s core mission is to provide educational resources in the form of schools, teachers and their needed support systems to the people of Tanzania.

APV work would not be possible without its energetic and capable board of directors. Serving the needs of APV and the people of Tanzania are:

Officers of the Board

Dr. Donna Gunn – President

Karen Grass – Vice President

Vicky Lara – Secretary

Russ Gunn – Treasure 

 Board Members

Dr. Val Towner; Superintendent of schools, Quitman County Mississippi

Dr. Rosusan Bartee; Professor, Ole Miss University, Oxford, Mississippi

Leecy Wise; President, Educational Consulting Company, Cortez, CO

Ann Miller; Director, Unlimited Learning Center, Cortez, CO

Legal Counsel

Erin Thrash; Thrash Law Firm, Austin, Texas

Since 2010 APV’s achievements are evidence of the deep commitment and dynamic activity of the founding members, board of directors and its many supporters.  In less than two years APV is:

• A nearly month long mission and devlopment trip to Tanzania, Africa in December, 2011.  To see images from the trip, click here.
• Funding the education of a young Tanzanian as a teacher for an APV funded school
• Organizing a competition with Dr. Garrison and his graduate students at the Department of Architecture at the University of Texas to design a school that will several Masai villages in the Simanjiro, Tanzania. Click here to see the winning design.
• Funding the rescue, care, surgery and fitting of prosthesis for a congenitally deformed child. Thanks to these medical interventions, this child can now look forwarded to leading a normal life. To find out more about her story, click here.
• Launching a national effort (currently underway) with student organizations to raise the needed funds to dig a well for the Simanjiro school.

In 2012 and forward, APV is focusing its efforts on the construction of the Simanjiro well which will supply clean water for drinking, cattle, irrigation and, eventual, a 400 student school.

Africa’s Promise Villages invites you to take advantage of the opportunity to become involved in the lives of the people of Tanzania. We are certain that you will be surprised to see how dramatically clean water, education, and basic care will transform the real life of a real person.