Interviews!!

Hampton, Nida and I have finally finished all of our interviews! We interviewed so many girls (probably too many, in hindsight), and we met some incredible individuals. We’re now in the process of rereading applications, re-watching interviews, and discussing all of the applicants. It’s been interesting; there are definitely some young women who stand out. There are those who seem to desperately need the scholarship who also perform extraordinarily at school and who obviously worked very hard on their applications and preparing for their interviews. There are some, though, who didn’t stand out quite as absolutely, but I believe that the scholarship would help them immensely, and I know they would work hard in school. It’s tough. Meeting all of these incredible young women has definitely been a good motivator for me. I know that when I return to North Carolina, I’ll work harder than I did in previous years to be able to fund as many intelligent, hard-working, needy young women in Zanzibar as I can.

I think it’s also difficult for me because I know that almost all of these young women would benefit from the scholarship. Poverty is everywhere on this island, so I’ve come to realize that poverty is relative; many people whom I’ve met who would be considered very poor in the United States are managing decently well. If you don’t have much here, you just live in a very small house and eat lots of rice and beans. (Although, granted, that’s mostly what I eat here, too. The life of a vegetarian on a budget, I guess.) No one has air conditioning, and many are lacking running water, so an added chore is walking to the well to gather water. This additional workload would have seemed like a form of unbearable poverty to me before arriving in Zanzibar. While lack of running water is still a sign of desperate need, I’ve come to see that people can still manage. Life is difficult, but not impossible.

I’ve had difficulty as an S4Si delegate trying to balance academic achievement with understanding that often, lack of money truly will lower your grades. One applicant pointed out to us that her class rank has fallen over the years. Others, she says, are able to afford textbooks and tuition (extra Saturday courses), while she is dependent solely on her notes and teachers. While I want to choose the students who deserve the scholarship the most academically, I also need to keep in mind that money could actually improve some of these young women’s performances.

As I hope is clear, our next few days of decision-making are going to be upsetting, exciting and definitely draining. I can’t wait, though, until we get to introduce our new scholars to everyone back in the United States!

This Saturday, we are hosting a health seminar for our scholars! Two UNC medical students are coming to Zanzibar for a few days and will talk to our scholars about lots of health issues, including diet, reproductive health, cancer, and lots of other topics. The young women all seem enthusiastic about it; I don’t think they receive any sort of reproductive health lessons in school as we in the United States do. (In the past, I have been critical of North Carolina’s sexual education, but at least we have something. Better to at least begin the conversation of sexual health, I think.) I look forward to again having (almost) all of our scholars together with our mentors!

I suppose that’s it for updates. Oh except that Nida and I went on a safari last weekend! Lots of pictures, lots of beautiful animals, lots of amazing landscapes. The national park looked like The Lion King!

-Alison