Dar es Salaam

Last week I met with different organizations targeted towards women and education. Our main goal was to not only make contact with some in-country organizations, but also find out what they thought S4Si could do better to prepare our scholars in secondary school for university.

I first met with Marjorie Mbilinyi from the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), a contact from UNC’s African Studies Department. She has lived in Tanzania since 1968 and became a citizen in 1969.

My first question to her was what can we do to make sure our girls succeed and how can we best prepare them to succeed in university? These were here responses:
•Stipend for small discretionary fund (soap, coke, hygienic products, etc.)
•Feminist literature in library
•Connect scholars from different schools together
•Find ways to help the school in the process so benefit is spread to other students and environment changes for all students
•Empower students through leadership
•Find a counselor for scholars and make them accessible to other students
•Look into what health services are available at the schools

I next met with Dr. Mukangara at the University of Dar es Salaam, who is the director of the Gender Centre. I asked her the same question I asked Marge. It was interesting to hear the differences and similarities because she is approaching it from a university perspective whereas Marge was coming from a gender and NGO perspective. Here is what Dr. Mukangara suggested:
•Transitioning to university
•Coping with social issues
•Equity issues
•Leadership skills
•Public speaking
•Writing skills
•Computer skills
•Remedial courses
•Teambuilding/teamwork

Something she mentioned was that a lot of loan programs and scholarships are stretched too thin. They either pay late or don’t give the students enough money to cover their expenses, which just disadvantages the students and doesn’t allow them to succeed in school. This is especially crucial for students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford an education because then they are forced to drop out. As an organization with limited contact with our scholars, this is a concern we need to proactively address every summer to ensure we are supporting our girls the best way possible.