Life-Changing Mentorship for Tanzanian Girls

In 2013, 29 secondary school girls from Moringe Sokoine and Orkeeswa Secondary Schools joined the Kisa Project. Unsure about what the next two years of leadership and life-skills training held, but keen to learn, they embraced the opportunity. In May this year, 27 of those girls came together for the last time for the Leadership Immersion Final Meeting and Kisa Graduation Day.

Leadership Immersion is a Kisa practicum that allows Scholars to both hone their leadership skills, and ‘pay it forward’ by sharing some of what they have learnt with younger girls. They do this by teaching a number of lessons from the Kisa Curriculum to 15-20 girls in their home community, while also acting as a mentor to those same girls. At the end of the practicum Scholars meet with AfricAid staff to debrief, provide feedback, and celebrate the completion of their final Kisa milestone. Participants discuss interesting moments, new skills gained, and challenges they faced. Each Scholar also receives a Certificate of Completion of Kisa.

Among the key skills Scholars say they gained from the experience were: teaching skills; lesson preparation; and public speaking skills. Many Scholars also commented on how their confidence grew, and their communication skills improved. As part of recognizing Scholars’ achievements, prizes were awarded to those Scholars who had excelled at meeting the Leadership Immersion requirements. This includes demonstrating commitment and responsibility, and being pro-active in communicating with their Kisa Mentor.

On behalf of those graduating, Kisa Scholar Mary addressed those in attendance saying ‘I feel I lack words that can express how I feel being part of Kisa. AfricAid is the reason for who I am today. I thank everyone on behalf of other Kisa Scholars who are here.’

These girls will now join the Kisa Alumni Network, and Mentors at Moringe and Orkeeswa have a new group of 28 Year 1 Scholars, and 36 Scholars who have progressed to Year 2 of the program, to train, mentor, support and encourage.

The Kisa Project is delivering some amazing results, and we are truly grateful for the support we get from our Global Giving donors. Thank you for being part of the change!