By Rai Farrelly | Co-Founder, Project Wezesha
Dear Project Wezesha Supporters,
Happy Spring to all of you! We are delighted to share a few updates about Project Wezesha supporters as well as highlights about some of our students. We also hope to secure your continued support as we celebrate the acceptance of some of our students into advanced programs of study.
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.
The generous donations of Shelmina, Minaz, their family and friends enabled us to lay foundations for 12 classrooms, build walls, and install rooves. Over the years, Shelmina and Minaz have continued to support Project Wezesha. Our last hurdle before opening the school was construction of student latrines -- Shelmina made that happen! For the opening ceremony in January 2015, Shelmina contributed to make sure the celebration would be inclusive of everyone - they 'chipped in' to feed the entire village!
This year on March 26th, I finally had the great pleasure of meeting Shelmina and Minaz (see photo) for the first time ever. While I was with them, I felt that I was in the presence of pure goodness and love. I have always been in awe of their generousity, yet they celebrated me for the opportunity I gave them. If I could manifest a world filled with hope, love, kindness and opportunity - it would surely be inspired by Shelmina and Minaz. Please take a moment to learn more about Shelmina here. She is a true inspiration!
Serendipitous Encounters
Through a series of random Facebook encounters, I met a man named Fritz from Germany who was making his way to Tanzania with his sons. He had spent time in Kigoma in the 80s and was now returning, with hopes of visiting Gombe National Park. In time, we had arranged for Lucas to meet him and escort him to Gombe and take him to visit the school in Mgaraganza. After his visit, he said that the trip to the school and village was the highlight of his trip. The photos show him speaking to the entire student body at Amahoro Secondary School. We are grateful to him for making the time to visit and speak with our students. Lucas was inspired by conversations he had with Fritz's sons and we were touched when they made a donation upon leaving.
Celebrating Our Students' Success
We are excited to report on the examination and placement results for some of our current students. As we celebrate their successes, we must also acknowledge that there is a cost to success--tuition bills! Now more than ever, we need your continued support. Here's why:
George is joining a technician certificate program in nursing and pharmaceutical sciences. It is a two-year program with costs ranging from 3,000,000 Tsh per year ($1350/yr). Intakes for the program are in April and September. Given our current finanical situation, we will be aiming for a September start.
Mahamudu and Ezekial qualified to join a basic technician certificate program in pharmaceutical technology. These fees will begin at 2,000,000 Tsh per year ($900/yr).
Ezra and Waridi qualified to join Form 5 in government schools. The fees for the first year are 700,000 Tsh each ($314 ea.). Form 6 fees drop to 150,000Tsh; however, they will require participation in school-based academic support during December and June costing 1,000,000 Tsh each ($450 ea.).
As you can imagine, we are so thrilled that these young men from remote villages have done so well in their studies and will continue their studies with peers in healthcare-related certificate programs and Form 5 respectively. Now we ask your support to ensure that we can help them stay on track and achieve their goals of becoming health professionals in Tanzania.
June Study Camp
Our final update is that we are happily offering our study camp again in June 2017. The success of our first study camp in December was so great on many levels. The students, teachers and parents were thrilled by the contribution this intensive academic program made to our students' confidence, English language proficiency, and content knowledge. We have attached the budget for the camp, drafted by Lucas and Madaga. As you will see, the cost for the 30-day camp for all students is $3700. Project Wezesha and Girls Education International will strive to raise these funds by our June 3rd start date. We hope you will consider chipping in!
Lucas, Madaga and I are committed to our young friends in Mgaraganza and surrounding villages. We are deeply grateful for your support of our work. Please consider sharing this update with friends, invite them to like our Facebook page, and visit our website as a way of joining us on this journey.
Sincerely,
Rai Farrelly
Co-Founder
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By Rai Farrelly | Co-Founder, Project Wezesha
By Rai Farrelly | Co-founder, Project Wezesha
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