From the Streets of Kidibwini to a Future Built by Hand: The Quiet Power of HOPE
At RLabs, we believe that transformation doesn’t begin with programs or promises. It begins with people and the courage to imagine a better life. Sometimes, all it takes is a seed of HOPE and the right environment for it to grow.
In the rural town of Kidibwini, Tanzania, we witnessed just that.
Meet Hance Kalinga. At 17, he rents his own room and earns a living building sofas and beds, products crafted with great pride and skill. But his story didn’t begin in a workshop. It began in the street, among scrap heaps and the rough edges of survival. For over four years, Hance lived without a roof over his head, scavenging for metal and navigating the shadows of poverty, addiction, and unhealthy peer circles.
In a country like Tanzania, where over 14 million tonnes of waste are generated every year, much of it organic or recyclable, young people like Hance often survive on the fringes of this invisible economy. In fact, up to 70% of the waste in the country is recyclable, yet less than 10% is actually recycled. This leaves many, especially in urban areas like Iringa, to navigate a daily hustle of informal collection and trade, often without support or a path forward.
When he first joined a local RLabs training programme in Iringa, Tanzania, he was quiet. Uncertain. Distracted by a world that offered little stability. His attendance wavered, and the influence of his surroundings pulled hard. But the exposure, however irregular, left an imprint.
We often say that our role is not to rescue but to reveal. To show young people like Hance that within them is the power to reshape their future. It’s not instant. It takes time, trust, and repeated exposure to new possibilities.
Eventually, that imprint became action.
Hance took initiative. He returned to the RLabs hub. He learned furniture making, starting with sofas. He put his hands to work and angled his mind toward change. Today, he’s employed at the very workshop where he trained, turning raw materials into furniture and a turbulent past into placid purpose.
He no longer scavenges. He no longer smokes. He works and saves his income, however irregularly, and dreams of opening his own workshop to support his family. These are not headlines. They’re the stories behind the statistics, the kind we’re most proud to share as the RLabs family.
Our Tanzanian family is quietly doing the hard work of nation-building, not in city boardrooms, but in villages and townships where change is desperately needed, yet rarely expected or delivered.
And for every Hance, there are more.
As a global family of impact hubs, we’re not in the business of charity. We’re in the business of restoring dignity through training, mentorship, and the kinds of opportunities that stick. We are proud of our RLabs Tanzania team. They plant seeds daily, without knowing which will bloom. Hance is proof that some do, and when they do, they bloom bright.
