Donata Tarimo Arden, a student at Norwalk Community College, has been selected as a 2009 Coca-Cola National Finalist for academic achievement. Her selection was based on the scores she earned in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition.
A Phi Theta Kappa student, Ms. Arden was one of fifteen students chosen from community, technical, and junior colleges in the state to be a member of the All-Connecticut Academic Team. She was selected on the basis of her academic achievements and her leadership role at Norwalk Community College.
Ms. Arden will be honored for her achievements in a ceremony on Friday, April 24th at the State Capitol, in Hartford. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation will recognize her outstanding abilities with a $1,000 award.
Born and raised in a small Tanzania village, Ms. Arden moved to the United States three years ago after marrying Jim Arden, a retired educator from Greenwich Country Day School. They reside in Westport.
“I’m the only one of my six siblings to attend college,” Ms. Arden explains. “My parents were not fortunate enough to receive any education. My mother is just learning to read and write.”
Ms. Arden worked in the Tanzanian homes and farms of others in order to be able to attend school. “I studied hard and used my time wisely,” she says. “At a very young age, I learned to appreciate the opportunity I had to attend school.”
Growing up, Ms. Arden saw many children who were worse off than she and her siblings were. “The issue of street children and orphans in Tanzania is increasing every day due to poverty and diseases such as Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Children as young as two years old are often seen wandering the streets,” she says. “They’re exposed to all sorts of violence and disease.” In fact, there are nearly 2.5 million children living on the streets of Tanzania today, digging through garbage for food and unable to attend school.
Ms. Arden was motivated to start an organization that would provide these children with a safe environment in which to grow up and all the basic necessities such as an education, health care, and hope for a better future. The organization is called TACODA, which is an acronym for Tanzanian Community Development Alliance, and is located in Arusha, Tanzania.
“Currently we’re serving more than 60 children through various programs,” Ms. Arden says. “It gives me a great deal of satisfaction when I see these children growing up and sharing their dreams with me.” She is helped in her endeavor by her husband, who is the founder of the Jim Arden Foundation, in Cos Cob.
In addition to attending college, Ms. Arden spends two to three months in the summer and one month in the winter working with the children at TACODA. Here in the U.S. she raises money, through the Jim Arden Foundation, to support the vital work of the organization. She also organizes photographic and educational safaris to Tanzania as part of her fundraising efforts.
Her efforts to help others don’t end with TACODA, however. She also works as a part-time administrative assistant at a business firm in Stamford to support her siblings’ educational goals.
Ms. Arden graduates from Norwalk Community College in May and plans to continue her education at a four-year college.
