Post-Secondary Education for Students in Tanzania

Dear Project Wezesha supporters,

We hope you are having a wonderful spring season! There are a few exciting updates to share about our scholarship program, so please keep reading.

First, you might recall that we added 22 students to our program last summer. Of those 22, nine of them were Standard 7 level students. Standard 7 is the last grade in primary school. The pressure on these students was great after being selected because in order to advance to secondary school, you must pass exit exams from primary school. Based on your scores, the government of Tanzania, via the Ministry of Education, determines which secondary school you will attend. So - our students studied hard and did their very best.

Now, we can congratulate the following students on passing these exams: Sango, Waridi, Ezra, Rahma, George, Amina, Mahamadu and Simoni. One student, Elinathani, did not pass but he has the option of repeating standard 7 and trying again next year. All of those who passed are currently attending secondary schools, as of January 2013! In fact, two of them scored so well that the Ministry of Education sent them to exceptional schools in larger cities within Tanzania. Waridi is attending a private school in Dar es Salaam and Ezra is attending a boarding school in Dodoma.

In other good news, our fiscal agent - Girls Education International - is branching out with a new scholarship program in Tanzania, in partnership with Project Wezesha! So, in addition to the boys and girls that you are helping us support through our own scholarship program, Girls Ed will be selecting an additional group of bright young girls to support starting January of 2014. The application and selection process will begin in July 2013. Project Wezesha will provide in-country management of this program.  It's a natural fit! Girls Ed will be supporting girls in Pakistan, Liberia and Tanzania. Project Wezesha is happy to support this effort to increase access to education for girls in Tanzania!

Also, this summer, Project Wezesha will have another intern - Brian Frederich, an undergraduate student at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. We are very excited to see what great work Brian will do with the village leaders and the students in Tanzania. Plus, we'll have a wealth of reports, images and updates coming our way for the 2 months he is there - living in the village with Jane and Ashahadu.

Finally, Project Wezesha co-founder Rai Farrelly will be going back to Tanzania this summer for the month of July to check in, get reports from teachers about students' progress and continue to strengthen the important relationships we've developed over the years!

All the best and please, continue to follow us on Facebook and share updates with your friends. We need all the support we can get in order to make this educational initiative sustainable!

Cheers,

Rai Farrelly & Lucas Lameck

Links:

• Girls Ed Announces Tanzania Partnership