Rawhiya

I still remember interviewing Rawhija because she spoke so smoothly in her interview and was one of the few girls who could easily understand me as I spoke quickly in English. I could see her passion for learning immediately as she told us about reading English storybooks and the newspaper outside of school in order to improve her vocabulary and her awareness of Zanzibar and surrounding countries. She believes, “Education is like light which can keep me away from darkness,” and said that if she could help anyone, she would help her younger sister study hard to pass her exams and receive a good job because then her sister could help their family. Her passion for education extended to her decision to tell the Tanzanian President Kikwete if she had the opportunity to “Please reduce the school fees in government schools so as to enable all children in the country to get a better education.” It was truly inspiring to see how important she thought education was for every child.

Rawhija’s father is a teacher and she has two older sisters and one younger sister. She loves Biology because she wants to know how living things grow and produce but also how diseases are caused, transmitted, and treated so that she can become a good doctor for her country. She is concerned that there are not enough doctors in Tanzania which is why she desires to become one. At the end of her interview, she asked a big question for all of us, “There are many, many poor countries in Africa. Why do you only help in Zimbabwe and Tanzania?”

Rehema

From the start of the interview I could tell that getting this scholarship meant a lot to Rehema. She started out a little nervous, but still sincerely told us that her family was poor and she would really like to do anything she could to help them. She also explained in the interview that she feels that her level of education is not high enough yet and she wants to have the opportunity to improve it. I was impressed by her passion to learn and concern with helping her family. She realized that through education she could change the life of her family and that is her future goal.
Rehema lives with both her parents and has many siblings, 7 brothers and 4 sisters. She attends Ben Bella Secondary School and her favorite subjects are Physics, Chemistry and math. She ranks number 12 out of the 51 students in her class. She says that by getting a better education she is able to teach her family and friends also.

Written by Bryanna Schwartz

Shemsa

The moment that sticks out in my mind most of Shemsa is her reaction when we told her she had been chosen for the scholarship. The hugest smile spread across her face, and we could all tell how much this would help her family. We all fell in love with Shemsa and her constantly smiling face from the start of the interview. She lives in the girls’ hostel that we have been volunteering at because her family lives on Pemba, a nearby small island, and she wanted to get a better education. I found it inspiring how this girl from a village on Pemba had managed to score well enough on the national exams after primary school to qualify to go to the best secondary school in Zanzibar, Lumumba. She continues to do well, ranking seventh in her class. And yet the more time I spend with her the more impressed I am with how humble she is about everything.
Shemsa has four younger brothers and three younger sisters who all live with her parents on Pemba. She lives in the hostel where we have been volunteering and University of Virginia Students for Students helped build a library. She takes the three hour ferry ride home when there are breaks from school. Shemsa hopes to be a doctor to help improve the health of her family and society. In her interview she said that if she became the minister of education she would build more modern schools for her citizens and especially for the girls because if you teach one girl it is the same as teaching a society.

Written by Bryanna Schwartz

Thania

From the day we met the Form II girls at Ben Bella, Thania stood out, striking us immediately with her infectious intellectual curiosity, constant enthusiasm, and bubbly personality, and every time we visit Ben Bella, she always welcomes us with her unquenchable smile. We were all excited to learn that she had been nominated by her school for our interview process, and after meeting with her individually, our desire to bring her into our program only grew.

She ranks third in her class of 51 students, loves studying English and civics, and wants to become a lawyer to satisfy her passion for human rights. We are confident she will succeed and are so excited to help her along the way, since paying for school seems to be a struggle at times for her and her family. She will be a welcome addition to the S4Si family.

Written by James Norton