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The Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania (IEFT) is a registered non-profit organization with the United States and a registered non-governmental organization with The United Republic of Tanzania that provides educational opportunities to the children of Tanzania. IEFT is currently building and running Orkeeswa Secondary School, which is fully-funded and affordable in the high-need, poverty-stricken area of Northern Tanzania, utilizing The United Republic of Tanzania National Secondary School Curriculum.

In June 2005, The Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania (IEFT) was founded by Tanzanian educators and international volunteers in seeing the country’s tremendous lack of adequate secondary education for its children.

The organization currently operates in the village of Lashaine, about 7 kilometers outside the town of Monduli chini, and works mainly with the Maasai, a semi-nomadic, pastoral tribe known for their unique traditions and pride of heritage. Lashaine Village has 3 primary schools and, before Orkeeswa Secondary, a child's only options for continuing their education past age 12 were to either walk to and from school up to distances of 6 kilometers daily or to board at these distant schools. Both require school fees that most local families cannot afford - most schools charge upwards of USD$400.00 per year and a typical family in Lashaine has an income of about USD$200.00 per annum.

IEFT’s goal is to continue to grow Orkeeswa Secondary School, an institution that is built within the village to educate the local children while sustaining their traditional way of life. In March 2007, IEFT completed its first project: a 20,000-liter water tank to provide water for the Orkeeswa Secondary School campus and its staff and students. Over 200 villagers volunteered their time to dig the waterline trench 3 kilometers to the school site.

After having been donated 25 acres of land in the village, IEFT completed its first building structures - 2 classrooms and 2 staff offices, a kitchen, 8 pit latrines and a football pitch.
In accordance with the Tanzanian school system, IEFT also selected its first class of students in October 2007 for the following school year, which begins April 2008. 41 students (21 males and 20 females) were chosen from Lashaine Village based on IQ exam scores, student interviews and multiple visits to the student’s home by organizational representatives to evaluate the home’s proximity to the school, level of poverty, and family commitment to the child’s education. These students will comprise the class of 2014 when they will graduate from Form VI.

IEFT prides itself as being an organization that believes in what the people want. We work strategically with the local governments and traditional leaders to come up with solutions for the villagers together. This is what will make the project sustainable over time with a strong buy-in by the local villagers.