About Flaviana Matata

Many people know my friend Russell Simmons as a music or fashion mogul. I know the caring, loving and philanthropic Russell who inspired me to start the Flaviana Matata Foundation (FMF). FMF is a Tanzania based organization I run that helps empower young orphaned girls in rural areas by supporting their education. A couple of […]

It’s been 16 years – I have lived twice as many years without her than with her – and nothing can change that. I know this and it pains me. Losing my mother in a boat accident on Lake Victoria has left a deep mark on my life. However, I have been very careful not […]

On behalf of the Flaviana Matata Foundation and Tanzania Mitindo, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Russell Simmons for his kind donation of auction items and cash for our annual charity event, Tanzania Red Ribbon Fashion Gala 2011 which took place on World Aids Day, December 11.The items he donated raised 7,700,000 […]

Last night I went to the movies with my friends to watch a recently released movie called “The Help.” Even though this movie was done to remind us of how it was back in the day, it has really made me think! As an African woman who grew up in Tanzania, and who now lives […]

by Flaviana Matata Modeling in Tanzania is a relative new profession and has been misjudged often to be a promiscuous job. It has taken time to gain some acceptance within the society. But what makes things more difficult has been the more modern clothes that are often short or revealing. For instance, posing in a […]

by Flaviana Matata Modeling in Tanzania is a relative new profession and has been misjudged often to be a promiscuous job. It has taken time to gain some acceptance within the society. But what makes things more difficult has been the more modern clothes that are often short or revealing. For instance, posing in a […]

Hello! So, I have arrived in New York and have started my modeling life here in America.  I am so excited to share these photos with you…no one else has seen them. They are from a shoot I just did.  I am wlaking this week in fashion week and couldn’t be more excited.  Thank you […]

It has been a while now that my life had taken on a sense of expectation. It has been almost 3 months since I met Russell Simmons at a charity event In New York. It was Life Project for Africa – a fund raising event for the construction of a children’s hospital in Tanzania.  It […]

Modeling is probably the dream of many girls all over the world, but few are willing and ready to dream big, instead they settle for second best.  For me modeling is not just walking on the catwalk or having my photo taken.  In every photo that I take I am selling a product and I […]

As a Tanzanian woman, I know some of the difficulties that children face when trying to seek education. While in a developed economy like the United States, education is taken for granted, however for children in Tanzania like in most parts of the world, it is a struggle everyday as they have to wake up […]