Lumumba Interviews!

Today we went to Lumumba Secondary School, where we interviewed 8 girls. It was great to kick off interviews! Something I realized very quickly is that girls that can’t speak English very well are at a disadvantage, yet the ability to speak English is not one of our selection criteria. Many of the girls did not understand what we were asking. Others could not speak very well. The interviews should really be done completely in Swahili so as to get a holistic sense of the applicant.

I again got the overwhelmed feeling that I got the first time I visited with some of the teachers and headmasters. How can these girls take classes in English and pass tests when they can’t understand simple questions that we are asking? Many of the teachers also cannot understand, so I can’t imagine what the communication is like in the classrooms. I would really like to sit in on a class.

The answers to some of the questions were also very interesting. On the application, we asked them to write three words that describe themselves. Most put something like thin (or fat), brown-colored, and short (or tall). A few put the types of words we were looking for, like polite or intelligent. When we asked what they do outside of school, we typically got a daily routine (chores, homework, helping parents, etc). Poverty or their incomplete education was their biggest obstacle and when asked what their greatest accomplishment has been, many replied “I am not yet fully educated, so I can accomplish something when I become a doctor (or whatever they wanted to be).” It seemed as though to many, education was the key to finding purpose in life. Only then could they accomplish anything or be of any great help to society.

I think this is an interesting perspective because in the U.S. it seems that students (of all socioeconomic backgrounds) feel much more empowered at a younger age. Perhaps it is an arrogant confidence and lack of humility or maybe just part of the “entrepreneurial spirit” and “American dream” that is instilled in us when we are young. It is probably a little of both. For the girls on Zanzibar, it is the everyday chores and studying that is allowing them up to make a difference in the future. If they don’t fetch the water, the crops don’t get watered, which means the crops don’t grow, and they can’t make money for the family. If they don’t study night and day to pass their form IV exam, their education is over unless they can pay to go to private school and re-sit the exams.

In the U.S. our education is definitely an investment in our future, but we don’t wait until we have completed our studies to start working with our passion. We volunteer, hold jobs, or talk with professionals to get a glimpse into the lives of what we hope to become. Poverty is certainly a barrier to many things such as education, textbooks, access to health care, etc., but it is not a barrier to exploring passion and expanding curiosity. Even though volunteering doesn’t seem to be feasible, I hope that we can create ways to expose our scholars to female professionals and empower them to be leaders in school clubs or in class. I’m sure my perspective on this topic will become more informed and less naïve over the next few weeks.

Word of the day:
Mandazi – delicious sweet bread that I like for breakfast