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