University of Dar es Salaam

I met with Dr. Mukangara today at the University of Dar es Salaam for an hour and a half! We were 15 minutes late and I was getting pretty anxious, but Remmy, Sam, and Max kept telling me to relax (hakuna matata). They said I could be 30 minutes late, so I still had 15 minutes to get there! I ended up waiting for Dr. M for an additional 40 minutes. Haha. What a great cultural experience.

During our conversation, some of her assistants popped in to serve us tea and others took pictures of us in conversation. Dr. M really liked S4Si and she said that members of the Gender Club at the university visit different secondary schools to talk about gender issues and give advice about university. She said that she would see to it that they went to Ben Bella when they visit Zanzibar next.

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. M 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 have either late payments 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.

In regards to university admissions for girls on Zanzibar, she said that unless there is a quota for a certain number of people to be admitted from Zanzibar, she believes a Zanzibar girl is treated like any other girl in the country.

In regards to government scholarships, it used to be only division 1 qualified to get a loan which automatically disadvantaged girls because very few girls get division 1. However, now the government gives scholarships and loans to those who score in division 1 and 2 and especially support those who want to be doctors, engineers, or science teachers.

Word of the day:
Hakuna matata - don’t worry about it (they say this a lot, especially to us since we get stressed out and anxious more easily)