By Ngaire McCubben | Comms, Ext. Relations and Fundraising, Tanzania
It’s hard to believe its October already! We at AfricAid have again begun to receive scholarship applications from Kisa graduates, and are expecting about 50 applications this year. This reflects the gradual growth in the reach of the Kisa Project and the growing number of Kisa Alumni.
Applications will close at the end of the month, and the Kisa Project Manager (Arusha Region) will go through each application and prepare a report on the graduate and her application for the Tanzanian Board. The Board will make the final decision, but the recommendations of Kisa Project Manager, who knows each applicant individually, including her personal financial situation and how she performed as a Kisa Scholar, are invaluable. The Board then has the unenviable task of deciding how the available funds will be distributed.
Even when a Scholar only receives a scholarship to partially cover her tuition costs, it can mean the difference between her going, and not going. One of last year’s scholarship recipients is a young woman called Maria. Maria is enrolled in a Bachelor of Law degree at Tumaini University, Makumira. She says that studying law isn’t difficult, but there’s a lot of work and it’s very tiring! She’s especially interested in subjects dealing with child rights, saying ‘it’s easy to apply to what goes on in the real world here in Tanzania. It was very interesting to learn about FGM when we were studying about children’s rights and the Law of the Child’.
Mary says that when she finishes her studies she plans to open a law firm, ‘so that whenever a woman has a problem about her rights I will give free advice. People don’t know about their rights here and I think things would be very different if they knew. They will become fearless; they will be stronger and more determined. I would like to see greater equality for women’.
We look forward to be able to offer scholarships to other bright, motivated young women and would like to say a very big thank you to all our Global Giving donors for making this possible!
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