Scholar Update: Emmanuel

I promised an update on our first selected scholar, Emmanuel.  Our project partner submitted an end of year report summarizing the year for him and making recommendations for the next year.

Emmanuel was one of only two students from Itiso Secondary School who qualified to attend A-level schools in 2014.  He was selected to receive the scholarship due to his family's greater financial need.

He was accepted to Dodoma Secondary and became a regular on the school volleyball court, enjoying "how the game is very focused on the team," and claims to be the best player at the school.

Emmanuel dreams of becoming a Pharmacist, aiming to help his community into the following ways:

• Providing health care advice to his community.
• Helping patients feel better and get well as quickly as possible by improving the health of patients by choosing the best medicines and helping to avoid side effects.
• To work directly with patients, since Tanzanian pharmacies are often located within a residential community and in common shopping places like grocery stores.

"Emmanuel believes that, in order any community to work properly in socio-economic activities, it needs to have strong health."

Last week, our project partner proudly informed me that Emmanuel is nearing graduation -- and that he was awarded Division II in the national Form VI exams.  That means that he will qualify for university enrollment, something that would not have been possible had he ended school in Form IV due to finances.

We are currently fundraising in order to support next year's class of scholars.  You can help by supporting our Booster campaign before August 19th, where you can buy a t-shirt (with an authentic Swahili proverb or methali) or make a direct donation (if you have enough shirts already) or both:



https://www.booster.com/itiso-scholarship-support

Thank you,
Allison

2016 Funding Approved!

My apologies for the delay in posting.  The report came through during a very busy time in school and I just realized today that I never shared any of it!  Thanks to the bartending event and a last-minute funraising push, we successfully funded two students for this year!

Back in February (I said I was late in sharing...) I received the end of year report for the Itiso Scholarship from my on-the-ground partner.  I'll write more about first student who was chosen -- Emmanuel -- in its own post.  This year, the committee also selected a second student to get a scholarship.  Emmanuel continues to receive the scholarship for his second and final year of upper high school (A-levels, for those familiar with the system there.)  The last year is significantly more expensive, with extra tutoring and exam fees.

Emmanuel and Remidius, the representative from our partner org, Youth Empowerment and Support (YES).  Remidius delivered the funds to the school to pay for Emmanuel's fees and checked on his progress.  Emmanuel did not get to the keep the cash after the photo op.  :)

Remidius met with our first-year scholar, Kaleji, to check on his progress, encourage him in his studies, and pay the school for his expenses.

I’m going back to Tanzania this summer to visit, and plan to meet the students or their families, so I can tell you more about the impact this program is having on them and the community.  I'm hoping to have more fundraisers this year and to add designated funding for girls' education.

If you would like to support the fund, you can donate to Friends of Tanzania here and write in Itiso Scholarship Fund as the designation, like so:

Thanks again for your support!  You helped to make this happen!

Asanteni sana,

Allison

Fundraising happy hour was a success!

Thanks to everyone who came out to our charity happy hour!  Thanks to some very generous tippers, we received $131.27 for the Itiso Scholarship Fund!  That’s like, 1/3 of a scholarship!  We also received some online donations, which will also support scholars from Itiso Village.

If you would like to contribute, you can donate through Friends of Tanzania, as US-based nonprofit (so it's tax deductible!). Be sure to indicate that it is for the Itiso Scholarship Fund as shown under Designation below. [Check my really well-drawn red circle!]

Thanks in advance to anyone who chooses to donate to my project!  If you leave your contact info, I'll send you a card! :)

I'm planning to visit the village next summer and hopefully meet the students we're supporting and their families, which is very exciting.

Thanks again for your support, be it financial or moral.

2 Bits of Great News!

News 1:

That's right!  I just heard that the 2016 scholarship recipient has been selected!!  I'm so proud and excited to help these students continue their educations and achieve their dreams.  Last year's recipient is still in school, so we will be supporting TWO students this year.

News 2:

We're having a fundraiser!
Tuesday, September 8th
Thomas Foolery (near Dupont Circle in Washington, DC)
6-8pm

Have a drink and play some games to ease back into the work week after a long weekend. I will be your bartender for the evening! All tips go directly to the Itiso Scholarship Fund through Friends of Tanzania/ Marafiki wa Tanzania, which supports Form V-VI high school students from Tanzania's Itiso Ward. So if you can't stay to drink, at least come, check it out, and stuff the tip jar!

With only 30 minutes of bartending training before I begin, I'm confident in promising that it will at least be entertaining!  Karibuni wote!

RSVP on Facebook here.
If you can't come, but would like to donate, you can find instructions here.

The Role of English in Tanzanian Education

I want to share this video created by Tanzanian secondary school students in Zanzibar discussing the challenges around English medium education at the secondary level.

English medium education (where all classes except for Swahili are taught in English) has been standard in Tanzania for many years.  Many of the teachers themselves lack mastery of the language, and as a result students are unable to gain sufficient fluency at the primary school level before entering secondary school.  Most of my own students frequently failed every course in Form I due to their inability to understand the classroom lectures or textbooks.

Recently the Tanzanian Parliament has passed a law to make Swahili the language of instruction to replace English in secondary schools (Swahili is already the language of instruction for primary schools), but this has yet to be implemented.  Proper education in English is one of the many challenges faced by Tanzanian students in the educational system.