Home from Zanzibar

After an almost 50-hour journey (including a stop in London to visit the incredible Tate Modern -- I highly recommend it!) from our beautiful flat in Mkunazini, Stone Town, I am finally home in Boulder and trying to piece together the fragments of thought and reflection I've haphazardly gathered through my experiences over the past five weeks.

I'll spare you the details until they're better organized, but I would like to let you all know how unbeliveably lucky and priviledged I feel to have represented S4Si as a summer delegate and to have been so warmly welcomed into such a tight-knit, vibrant, and loving community we found amongst our friends, neighbors, schools, and most of all, our S4Si scholars.

As I've written before and as you will learn in more detail from reading the profiles of the young women we selected which will be appearing here over the next few weeks, the scholars we support are bright and motivated, passionate and compassionate, and above all, dedicated to improving their lives and those of their families through hard work and education.

Completing secondary school in Zanzibar is not easy, even for those who have the means to afford tuition, fees, books, uniforms, and the widely-utilized outside tutoring schools. The national exams, which arrive every two years and cover nine or ten different subjects, are rigorous and must be written in English; I glanced at some copies of archived example tests and was shocked by how difficult they were.

But for those students whose families must make the constant trade-offs between education and food, clothing, and medicine, or between educating the young men or the young women, finishing school becomes much harder than simply passing these examinations. The S4Si scholars we chose this year face all of these challenges with grace, poise, dignity, and resolve, and I would bet on them to succeed even without our assistance. But Students for Students makes a huge difference in the lives of these empowered and inspirational young women, helping them and their families ensure their future achievements in secondary education and beyond. I am confident that, with our help, the scholars will become the future leaders, businesswomen, scientists, and doctors of Zanzibar and Tanzania. I am so excited to follow their progress in the years to come!

Salma

Salma is awesome. She is number one in her class of 51 students and was the only girl to make A’s in every single class last semester. She has a humble confidence about her which is truly remarkable, for she is smart and speaks very well but does not try to outshine anyone. She spoke with such confidence about her desire to be a doctor and to see the condition of women in Tanzania improved so that women have more opportunities to receive an equal education and to enter the business world. She started out the interview a bit nervous but by the end had the courage to ask me to sing for her! Bryanna had told her once that I liked singing so when we gave her an opportunity to ask us questions she asked me to sing—and I did!

She has seven siblings, three younger and four older, and would love to study in the U.S. in order to learn about economic development and bring ideas back to her home country of Zanzibar. What was probably most touching was when we asked the girls to write about how this scholarship would help them. She said it would help her family to pay the school fees and would help to make sure the rest of her siblings receive an education but she also promised to use her money wisely so that she could try to help those who had not been given the scholarship as well.

Maida: "If you want to educate society, educate a woman."

Hi all!

We just wanted to tell you all a bit more about the scholars we selected so we figured we'd write our thoughts about each scholar for you all to read!

I do not think we will ever forget when Maida told us in her interview that she was so proud to be a woman because she believes, “Women are the nucleus of society. Behind every successful man is a woman. If you want to educate society, educate a woman.” She spoke with such conviction and passion about the strength of women which was so encouraging to see in this society where the women you see walking through the streets do not always emit that same spark of confidence. Immediately upon hearing her talk, I knew we had to select her because her belief in women’s empowerment spoke so well to the heart of our mission at S4Si.

Maida has three brothers and three sisters and lives with her parents. She loves physics and math and wants to study and do well in school in order to improve her family’s standard of living and hopes to have the opportunity to make the pilgrimage to Mecca some day. If she had the chance to talk to the president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, she said she would advise him to provide the people of Zanzibar with more economic, political and social support, for she is concerned about the political struggles between Tanzania and Zanzibar.

About Bryanna

I just wanted to give a little bit of background about myself for the people reading this blog who don't know me.

My name is Bryanna Schwartz and I am going to be a Sophomore this fall at UNC Chapel Hill. I am majoring in biology and am hoping to one day go to med school. I am from California, but have loved spending the last year at Carolina. I have really enjoyed being involved with S4Si so far this year and can't wait to contribute more as one of the Scholarship Directors this coming year.

I really appreciate S4Si because it focuses on the importance of education and is able to make a difference by returning to the same location every year to continue to improve the program. This trip has been an amazing experience so far and I can't wait to bring back some of my ideas next year to share with S4Si.

Picking our scholars

Thursday we had to make our final decision on which girls would receive the scholarships from Students for Students International for their secondary education. It was definitely the most difficult decision I have ever had to make. All the girls were so passionate about helping their family and country and all of them had need. I just wish we could've been able to pay for more of them.

We spent from 1-11 pm trying figure out our decision. We rewatched the interviews on the video camera, reviewed applications and evaluated financial need. It is so difficult because we all knew that the scholarship would drastically change these girls lives for the better.

After reviewing all the girls applications and interviews, I was inspired by their passion to get an education despite what they deal with at home. I would say I'm the most emotional out of the three of us and I struggled with the decision the most. The girls on the border definitely tore me apart. We couldn't give the scholarship to one girl who has 7 other siblings and really needs the money. I'll admit that I just about cried when I watched her interview again after we had decided not to pick her. She talked about wanting to be a doctor because she wanted to help her community. She also said that if she could talk to President Jakaya Kiwete she would tell him to build hospitals and nursery schools in the villages because some of the people there can't afford to get to Stone Town frequently. Not being able to choose her made me realize the value of raising money for that one extra scholarship.

The even harder part turned out to be telling the girls. We tried to put it as nicely as possible to the girls who didn't receive the scholarship, but it was still extremely difficult. All of them looked so disappointed. But telling the girls who received the scholarships was amazing. One girl couldn't stop smiling and her eyes started to water up. I could tell this was going to alleviate so much financial stress for her. Another girl screamed and couldn't believe that she had actually gotten it. I'm so excited to get to know the scholars better in the next few weeks.

We will be posting scholar bios shortly.

Interviews! We had some pretty amazing conversations!

My name is Katherine Novinski and I am going to be a sophomore at the University of North Carolina and will be a co-director of Fundraising for Students for Students International next year. I am from Dallas, Texas and am the oldest of six children and am in love with Carolina and its amazing balance between spirit and school and involvement--as well as its amazing weather and most of all amazing people. I am planning on studying political science or public policy or economics and hope to do something in the field of education when I grow up—either work in education administration or on education policy to help improve the education system in the United States. I love to watch Carolina basketball games, to read, listen to lectures, meet new people and hang out with old friends—to dance, sing or just have good long conversations. I am so excited to be a selection delegate for S4Si this summer as I have really enjoyed my time in Zanzibar so far. It has been so much fun to meet new people and to experience a new culture. I have learned so much about the religion of Islam and the practices of modesty, about the Swahili language and the African way of life and have been able to receive a very interesting insight into the education system here in Zanzibar. The country is beautiful as we are situated so near the Indian Ocean and we have been blessed to be able to enjoy the beautiful sunsets and beaches.

I have had the most fun talking to people here, especially the girls we have interviewed. Last week was filled with many new adventures and the meeting of many new people. Within my first week in Zanzibar, we visited both schools where we are funding scholars: Lamumba and Ben Bella. Lamumba is a government school where the students who score highest across the board in all subjects are able to attend and Ben Bella is the school where students who score highest and science and math attend. On Thursday, we interviewed seven girls from the Form II class at Lamumba which was very exciting. It was so cool to listen to their answers to questions such as, “If you could sit down with your President and tell him something, what would you say? If you could help anyone, without limits, who would you help and how? If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Some of them had some incredibly well-thought out answers and some spoke very good English–one could even understand me when I was speaking quickly :). They were all very concerned with the state of Education in Zanzibar–the lack of students receiving an education, the lack of resources, the lack of teachers–and all felt that Education was the key to life. Many of the girls want to be doctors because they see there is a lack of doctors in their country and one wanted to study diseases and how they are transmitted and one said that if she could help she would build a hospital for her small town so they do not have to travel forever and build a primary school for the little kids who live to far and never get a chance to go to school. Some talked about telling the President that they believe Zanzibar needs more vocational education, needs to reform the Education system, and needs to end the corruption. One girl said that if she could help anyone she would choose to be the Minister of Education in order to reform the education system. And this is all out of the mouths of 14-15 year olds and all in their second language as their first is Swahili. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we interviewed at Ben Bella and were just as impressed. They spoke English so well and you could really see their passion for learning and for their community through their answers. One wanted to help find a cure for AIDS, another wanted to study Malaria and Cholera, one wanted to be a lawyer, and another wanted peace and cooperation between Zanzibar’s President Karume and Tanzania’s President Nikwete. Sitting down to choose the scholars and having to look at their interviews, their applications, their grades, and then to have to read answers to, “How will this scholarship help you and your family?” was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Some of the girls talked about how it was hard to get to school on time because they could not afford the public transportation. Others wanted money to cover the school fees because they knew it was hard for their parents. They all wanted to be able to afford to buy books to help in their studies because most of them just use library textbooks, because even those who are better off cannot afford textbooks. Plus, the girls are all so sweet and caring and when they smile at you you just want to be able to help them all.

Interviewing the scholars

We spent the past two days interviewing students at Ben Bella secondary school, and we met some really incredible young women who are looking for a chance to complete their education. They are bright, caring, motivated, and determined, and it's really exciting to have the opportunity to help them.

The really really frustrating part is choosing them, since we are limited by our funds, so we're currently in the midst of deliberations. It's obviously very difficult and slow going, but once we're finished, I'm convinced we'll have assembled an impressive class of scholars and I'm really excited to tell you more about them. They all have such amazing stories, and having this opportunity to meet them has convinced me just how important S4Si is. For those of you who have worked so hard at fundraising efforts, thank you for all your dedication. It's such a worthwhile cause.

More details to come once we've made our decisions...

Highlights of the trip so far

Bryanna

After being at Stone Town for over two weeks I think we are starting to get really comfortable here. We have had a great time going to the schools and getting to know the teachers and students better. As James already reported we are very excited to expand our program to Lu Mumba.

James and I got the chance during the first week to sit in on classes at both schools. It was interesting to see the differences in how things are taught here. The most interesting lesson was on the theories of evolution and creation. Although we tried to not interrupt the class, the students were really excited to have us there and kept looking back at us.

We also got a chance to meet with some of the girls from Form II and just sit and talk. They asked us lots of questions about our life back home as well as ways to solve problems in Zanzibar. They asked how we would suggest solving the malaria issue and the water shortage problem. They also asked some tough questions about the US. One girl asked, "We have heard if we visited you we would be discriminated against. Is this true? And why, because our people love to welcome you?" Questions like these were definitely hard to answer, but showed us just how smart and aware these girls are about Zanzibar.

We interviewed girls on Thursday and they all did a really good job preparing. It should be a tough decision. We will inform the girls from Lu Mumba on Friday. On Friday Katherine and I got the opportunity to watch the student government elections at Lu Mumba. This was a great experience and really entertaining. All the students were very into it, yelling and holding up signs, and joked that it was more important than Obama and Hillary.

Tomorrow we start to interview girls at Ben Bella. I am excited to see how they compare to those at Lu Mumba.