Young Entrepreneurs Raise Money for Students in Tanzania
Young Entrepreneurs Raise $$ for Tanzanian Students
University-Bound Project Wezesha Students!
Dear Project Wezesha Supporters,
The time has finally come for our first scholarship students to really spread their wings and take flight into higher education–they’re university-bound! We are so proud of Tumsifu, Dibeit and Saidi for completing Form 6 and doing well enough on their exit examinations to join universities in Tanzania.
Dibeit and Tumsifu are both interested in studying medicine. Their long-term goals are to become surgeons. In particular, they both shared their unique interests in maternal health care. It’s not surprising since they both come from small villages in Western Tanzania where the incidence of maternal and/or infant mortality are high. It has historically been difficult for women to get to the hospital to deliver their babies and when certain complications arise, even the best midwife loses patients. Fortunately, development is spreading in Tanzania, so transportation options are increasing from villages into town hospitals. Continue reading “University-Bound Project Wezesha Students!”
Summer Update – A Report from the Field
Greetings Project Wezesha Supporters,
I had the great pleasure to spend part of May and June in Tanzania with our students and partners in Kigoma. I’m delighted to share some updates, stories, and photos. Please make sure to visit us on Facebook to see even more photos and videos! Continue reading “Summer Update – A Report from the Field”
A Little Help From My Friends
Project Wezesha was founded when Lucas and I responded to a request for support from the chief of Mgaraganza village: Can you help us build a secondary school? Of we course we said yes, but we then had to come up with funds. We raised money little by little. But then – a miracle! Our miracle was Shelmina Babai and Minaz Abji. These two remarkable souls, born and raised in Tanzania and Uganda respectively, were set to marry. They desired nothing more from their wedding guests than contributions to Project Wezesha so we could construct Amahoro Secondary School. Their aim was to honor their fathers through this amazing gift. Continue reading “A Little Help From My Friends”
Launching an Academic Study Camp
Happy New Year, Project Wezesha Supporters! We wrapped up 2016 with a really cool pilot project that we’re excited to tell you all about.
As most of you have learned through these reports, education in government village schools is readily available, but not always of the same quality as that experienced by the youth in urban government schools or private schools. The short list of reasons includes lack of support for ongoing teacher training, limited English proficiency of teachers and students, lack of educational resources (e.g., laboratories, textbooks, maps, technology), and long walking commutes to schools with no meals provided on site (i.e., hunger, diminished attention spans).
For quite some time, Lucas and I have puzzled over what we can do to build on classroom-based learning. For the past few years, we have been providing additional tutoring for our students between terms and after school, especially for those struggling in particular subjects. The students are always grateful, but it still didn’t seem like it was having enough of an impact. Students continued to struggle in classes and some weren’t finishing secondary school with marks high enough to get them into high school or vocational school. Continue reading “Launching an Academic Study Camp”
Autumn Update on our Scholarship Program
Happy Autumn to all of you! The leaves are turning in their brilliance here in Vermont, but back in Tanzania, rainy season is upon them – which means everything gets so lush and green!
Students are getting ready for their end-of-year examinations. Let’s just say there are some stressed students in our midst! These exams play a significant role in the lives of students in Tanzania – determining for some whether they will be able to attend secondary school, determining for others if they will continue to study at the secondary level, and determining for yet another cohort whether they will move from secondary school into high school. The stakes are high!
But in the spirit of Autumn, we’d like to celebrate that for which we are grateful. Lucas recently spent time traveling around and visiting some of our current students and their teachers to see how everyone is doing. Here are some highlights.
Ezekial shared his story with us. He said that he was born in 1997. He attended Mungonya Primary School in Kiganza, Tanzania and finished in 2012. He began secondary school in 2013 with the help of Project Wezesha and this year, he is completing Form 4. He is one of our high school hopefuls who will take the exam this month. We will get his results in December and find out if we can support him as he pursues studies through Form 5 and 6. Ezekial wants to be a doctor. He says that in Tanzania, many people die due to a shortage of doctors in the region. He wants to fill that gap and we want to help him do so!
Ezra also shared some thoughts with us. First, he says he thanks God because he was blessed to have a father who cares about him and education. When Ezra was young, he didn’t like studying. But his father gave him advice and highlighted the example of a cousin who did very well in school. With this cousin as a role model and his father as his mentor, Ezra studied with renewed enthusiasm. After his standard 4 exams, he was ranked second in his class. He was motivated to become the top in his class, so he studied even harder. Throughout the remaining years in primary school, Ezra was ranked first in his class. It was this ranking that landed him a spot in our scholarship program. He did so well on his O-level exams that he was sent to a boarding school in another region, where he studies Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. His dream is to become a doctor – with a rather specific focus on kidney problems. We love his focus and determination! He also takes his exit exams this month and we see a bright future in higher education ahead!
George, like Ezra, was inspired by a parent – but in this case, his mother. George saw how hard life was in the village and he saw how hard his mom worked to provide for him and his siblings. She encouraged him to study. He studied hard throughout primary school and succeeded in the exams to get into secondary school. His ranking as top of his class caught our attention. Life continued to be difficult for George through secondary school, however, because he had to walk a long distance. He later decided to move closer to the school – where he had to cook and care for himself. Fortunately for George, he did excel in secondary school – scoring high in Division 2 on his Form 2 exams. We expect an equally high result on his Form 4 exams in his track: Physics, Chemistry and Biology. George would like to be an Engineer, specializing in the Oil and Gas industry, and we’re proud of him for having tenacity and vision!
As students graduate from our program, space opens for new students to join us. Lucas and our friend, Madaga – an amazing local educator – have started to visit local primary schools to scout for new students to join our program. They have created an assessment tool to do some initial screening. Once we get exam results from these recent Standard 7 graduates, we’ll be able to announce who is joining us. The photos of the young girls below are the faces of some of our potential new students. Join us in sending them hope as we await their results. We’ll soon let you know who will join us in January!
Asante Sana for all of your support. Please know that our work continues as long as there are children in need of education … i.e., forever! … or for as long as we have the capacity to do so. As you know, we can’t do this without donors who are willing to contribute to the cause. Now that secondary school fees have been waived by the president, we can focus on the critical costs of keeping students in boarding schools, buying text books, and funding support classes between terms.
Please share the work we do with friends and family (click the sharing buttons below) and of course, chip in when you can (click ‘Give Now’ here on our donation site). Let us know if you’d like to know more about how you can help.
With gratitude,
Rai Farrelly & Lucas Lameck
Co-Founders, Project Wezesha
Social Media Becomes a Tool for Project Wezesha
As of recently, social media is reaching more of our students. When I started working in Tanzania in 2008, no one I knew in the villages had a cell phone. A few folks in town had old-school Nokia phones. Now, almost everyone has a basic phone, and more and more people have smart phones. If you can afford to buy credit, you have 3G access – even in remote villages. Not surprisingly, it’s really changing communication and human interaction in huge ways.
For me, it’s a bonus because I have closer contact with some of our students – even from across the world. Diana, Tumsifu, Dibeit, and Hindu use Facebook. Khadija and Hindu love What’s App! Through social media platforms, I’m able to get stories from them, share ideas and pictures from home, and just keep the relationships alive. They also stay connected to others that they’ve met over the years – friends from the US who have traveled with me or visited as interns: Hadley, Tamrika, Katy, Krista, Carter, John, Dagny, Marte, Laetitia, Amy, and others. It’s these connections – as much as the education and the financial support – that contributes to the work we do. For us, these young people are friends and our support of them is personal.
Thank you for all of your support and for believing that we can make a difference, even if our reach seems small (i.e., we’re not the United Way or CARE) – it’s a reach in the right direction and it does matter!
Sincerely and with gratitude,
Rai Farrelly & Lucas Lameck
Co-founders, Project Wezesha
Spring 2016 Update on Our Students
We’re at the half way mark of a new school semester and are eager to share some updates on our students. These updates are based on a report compiled by Lucas after many calls and personal visits with teachers, headmasters, parents and students.
As each year passes, our student numbers ebb and flow due to graduation and new enrollment – and unfortunately, also due to dips in retention. These dips are often the result of failures on national examinations. Students take examinations after Form 2 and Form 4. If they fail Form 2 examinations, they have the option to repeat Form 2. If they fail Form 4 examinations, they can repeat, quit school all together, or opt for vocational training in a career center. With that information in mind, here are some updates on our current cohort of students.
One of our Form 4 students, Albert passed his Form 4 examinations and has been accepted to start high school (Form 5) this summer! We are thrilled about this news and are looking forward to see what he chooses to focus on for his Form 5 and 6 studies. Another of our Form 4 students, Shabani didn’t pass his examinations, but he did well enough to enter VETA for vocational training. Lucas is currently working with him to identify a potential focus for career training. It will be his choice if he continues and what path he chooses. 
Two of our Form two students, Sango and Amina did well on their Form 2 examinations and will continue on to Form 3. These young girls are excited by the challenge to keep studying at a secondary level. We continue to support them with additional study support outside of their regular class time as we’ve come to learn it’s key to success for students attending village schools.
We also have six students – Simoni, Mahamudu, Rahma, Ezekial, George and Hassani who are moving on to Form 4 at Kagongo and Bitale Secondary Schools this year. They have really dedicated themselves to their studies and we are proud that they have made it this far. Each of them is doing very well – in particular Ezekial, George, and Simoni. Simoni is one of our top performing students – always at the top of his class – and will hopefully follow in the footsteps of Dibeit, Saidi, Tumsifu and Albert – to go on to High School!
In our boarding schools, we have three students entering Form 4 – Waridi and Ezra. They are both doing very well because, as Lucas says, all students in the boarding schools do well. Placement into secondary school is determined by the government. Placement into boarding schools is based on high performances on secondary school entrance exams. In many ways – for a young Tanzanian – this is winning the lottery. The schools are well equipped, the teachers are dedicated and well prepared, and the fact they live on campus increases their focus and chance for academic success.
Sadly, there were students who failed the national examinations and made the choice not to continue studying (not to repeat a school year and try again). Lucas felt great pain in reporting those updates and even delayed his report because he didn’t want to share bad news. We have to believe that we didn’t fail them, but rather that the system failed them – a system in which students who barely speak English are required to switch gears in the middle of their educational experience and start learning all subject matter in English. It’s a broken system and one that I wish I had the power to overhaul. In time, I believe the government of Tanzania will find a solution – whether that be starting English earlier or continuing education in both Swahili and English at the secondary level. Nonetheless, for now – it’s not working and the inability of our students to complete their education is one price that is paid. So, we wish them well on their journeys and hope that the time they did have in school gave them an opportunity to expand their knowledge base and build a relationship with education that will serve them for life. Best of luck to Oliva, Samiru, Mussa, and Mariam.
To make sure we end on a positive note, let us not lose track of Dibeit, Tumsifu, and Saidi who continue to study hard in Form 5 at their respective boarding high schools in Dar Es Salaam and Arusha. Ismael continues to study at VETA to become a mechanic and driver – he will be completing his studies and entering the workforce this year! Hindu and Khadija are reunited in Oman. They are both working there and living with host families. They make a monthly salary equivalent to their families’ annual income and they send most of their earnings home to support their loved ones, while exploring a new land, language, and culture together! They send us messages regularly on What’s App and Facebook so we can see how they’re doing. All signs point to happy!
Thank you for all of your continued support. You may never actually experience the return on your investment, but trust me when I say that our students certainly do! They are very grateful for the opportunities that we have collectively afforded them and not one penny has gone to waste!
Please consider continuing to support our program so that we can make sure that we can cover the continue costs of high school, vocational training, and tutoring for our students. (Click Donate to your right. Asante!)
Ismail – Student, Driver, Mechanic, Success Story!
Ismail joined our program years ago! He was among the first scholarship students that Project Wezesha admitted into the program. After secondary school, Ismail didn’t score high enough on the national examinations to go to high school, but he had the option of our continued support through vocational school. Since then, he has been immersed in his studies to become a mechanic and driver, which will open many doors to him in the Kigoma region, and well beyond! But without further ado, these are his words to you!
My name is Ismail. I’m living at Kiganza, Tanzania. I was born on May 12, 1990 in Kiganza, Kigoma. I’m living with one parent – only Mother. My Father was died the year 1998. The time when Father was died, he was remain with seven children and I’m a fourth child born. I was starting primary school the year of 2000, and I finished the year of 2006 for that year, I was fail the Examination and I repeated primary school at Kagina primary school in 2008. I passed the Examination and I was so happy for that time.
Then I joined secondary school Form One at Kagongo Secondary. It was 2009 up to 2012 – I finished form four. I was happy because Project Wezesha was supporting me to cover all cost from form one up to form four at Kagongo Secondary School, under Sister Rai and Brother Lucas – Thanks for all.
After Secondary, I was continue to study to join (VETA) – the means of VETA is VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINIG AUTHORITY. I was taking Motor Vehicle Mechenics, under the cost of Project Wezesha, between the year of 2014 up to 2015 and I’m continual to train even now. At the year of 2015, I had a Debe of 300,000 Tanzanian shilings. This is the cost of fees per year for my course. Also I have a challenge, because I like after this grade I need to continual grade three, up to grade four. I’m still sending my request for Project Wezesha (PW) to continue to supporting me up to the end of my study – not only me, but also and other people.
For myself I’m attaching so many thanks for Project Wezesha and all peoples or any Organizations who is supporting Project Wezesha to supporting me from begin up to now, because without Project Wezesha it was difficult for me to be here right now.
So I don’t have more to say, but I can say thanks, thanks, thanks a lot and God blessing you and Project Wezesha. Also I wishing you to continue to help other poor people like me because there is some people they need to get Education but they don’t have any supporter to supporting.
THANKS,THANKS,THANKS A LOT
YOURS,
ISMAIL
So, along with Ismail, let us extend our deepest gratitude for your support. Know, as always, that your contributions to Project Wezesha go straight to the cause. We’re a small organization and you can always trust that when you donate to our programs, the money goes to one of 3 places:
- The schools (school fees)
- Local shops (for textbooks and supplies as needed for our students)
- Lucas’s Salary (his annual salary is $3,000 – and boy do I wish it could be more! Half is paid by Project Wezesha and half by Girls Education International. By local standards, he’s doing well, but on his salary, Lucas supports his family – paying school fees, covering medical expenses, buying food, clothing, and basic housing needs. He’s a good man, that Lucas!).