Educate 500 Orphans and Needy Children in Tanzania

Your support for our project is changing lives in Tanzania. As a thank you, I wanted to share the story of one of the girls in Tanzania who has been supported to stay in school by Camfed's Safety Net Fund

From:Hadija, Aged 14, Kilombero District, Tanzania.

I am the last born of six children, and my father is a rice farmer. My mother didn’t go to school, and my father only attended school until standard 7, so they struggle a lot to make a living. They very much want me to go to school because they know that it’s the only way to build my future. Though, even the small small costs are too much for them. For three years, I was wearing the same school uniform. Both the skirt and the shirt are ripped. Every morning when I put them on, I felt ashamed.

I remember the day in January when my teacher told our class that there was a fund to help struggling students buy new uniforms and books, and one of the students in my class submitted my name. She had noticed my torn uniform and she felt pity for me. When the teacher told me that I was on a list of children who would be provided with a new uniform, I felt something lift in me. I used to dread going to school, because I was afraid that the teacher would call me to go to the blackboard. Then I would have to stand before the whole class in my torn uniform.

It’s different now. I can get up in front of the class with no anxiety. I feel good about going to school. I look forward to it. I want to keep doing better and better, because I have a goal: I want to be a nurse, and take care of the sick people in my family.