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?”