»Mama Anna«

Andrea Karsten has been actively involved in the development of the town twinning from the very beginning and co-founded the voluntary organization “German-Tanzanian Twinning”. Now passed away from us. The death of Andrea Karsten was also intensively commemorated in Tanzania.

Dear members, and dear friends of the DTP,

We mourn the death of Andrea Karsten, Mama Anna, initiator, co-founder, and honorary chairwoman of the German-Tanzanian Partnership. She passed away after a short serious illness in the arms of her children on Feb. 13, 2021. We are infinitely grateful for our time with her and her life’s work. She was and is the initiator of this nucleus of exchange between Tanzania and Germany.

From her connection to Tanzania and her circle of friends in Hamburg, the DTP was founded in 1998. Since its founding, she served as Managing Director until 2009 and subsequently played a central role in shaping DTP as a member of the Board of Directors until 2014. Through one or two trips a year to Tanzania until 2018, she has made and kept alive many human bonds despite the great distance. All of us in today’s board and management joined DTP after her, got to know her in this context, and were taken along by her persuasiveness. Her perception of people and an open ear for ideas, especially those of the younger generation, have kept us on the ball.

Andrea has always had a good feeling for necessities and opportunities and has developed many projects and cooperations from this. For her and for us, the direct impact of the projects, always with the participants’ own contribution, and the willingness to question and further develop the existing projects became the central principles of the DTP.

The projects Mama Anna Nursery School, School Sponsorships, Volunteer Services North-South, South-North, and Global Learning, REN Volunteers, and the development of the women’s group TUFAHAMIANE were significantly developed by her. The cooperation with the university in Dar es Salaam and the development of TAREA and REZA in Zanzibar would not have taken place without her help. Until the end, working with renewable energies and the hope and development perspective associated with it was a key driver for her. In all convictions, facts and science were always the central basis for her.

Her actions have had a great impact and her conviction and persuasiveness have shaped our surroundings. We will miss your agility! We wish that we can continue to develop her life’s work in her spirit.

Asante sana Mama Anna!