Kwala is located in the Kibaha-Pwani Coastal Region of Tanzania, just 30 miles west of the country’s largest city, Dar es Salaam. It takes about three hours to travel to Kwala from the center of Dar es Salaam, the last 19 km by a deeply rutted dirt road off of Morogoro Road at the village of Vigwaza.

Kwala Ward is comprised largely of subsistence farmers and some businesses such as small convenience shops, butcheries, and restaurants. In some ways, Kwala is better off than other villages. The village is fortunate to have a small hospital, Kwala Secondary School, Kwala Primary School, a water tower, and a new phone tower for its more than 5,000 residents. Electricity came to the village when it was extended to the local chicken farm. Despite these advantages, most residents still live on an average income of just one dollar per day.

Kwala also hosts a historical train station, built during the German colonial period in Tanzania in the late 1800’s. The station stopped serving customers in 2001, due to a decrease in farmers using the railway to transport rice to Dar es Salaam. However, trains still pass by, and the station is still very much a part of the Kwala community.