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.