Greetings from Arusha- Tanzania,
On October 14th each year Tanzanians take a public holiday. Unlike the other public holidays we have, the focus on this day is memory rather than celebration. Why? Because on this day we remember one of the heroes of this nation, who by his wisdom, philosophy, determination, patriotism and love for this country tried his level best to set the foundation for the country. He believed in peace, unity, love, equality, dignity, and respect for humanity. He was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, whom most of Tanzanians still call Father of the Nation.
Nyerere was a great leader who knew what he believed and took every initiative to make it happen. As I am writing this blog, I have a lot going on in my head, and I am asking myself some of the questions, which I think will be good to share with you: Why do many people like to praise and appreciate people after they die? Is this a good culture? Is there no other way to do it while these people are still alive? …. uuuuuh, yeah I think there is! Now who wants to volunteer then … … !
OK, let me come first.
When I was in college, in one of my management courses I came across this question “are leaders/managers born or made”? Researchers have had different views on the question. On one side, it is believed that there are certain types of people that others naturally like to follow. On the other side, leaders are also made through the environment someone grows in—the different leadership trainings, experiences, and skills that one collects over time. All in all, even people who are born with leadership qualities need to be nurtured in a certain way so that these qualities can come out and benefit society.
Now, today I present to you Isack Sufiani, the President of the Students Government at The Professional Tour Guide School in Arusha, and Ombeni Elia, the Vice President of the same College. Both of them are TFFT Scholarship recipients.
I am taking this time to write about these young men to acknowledge and appreciate what they are doing and to encourage them that the world out there is ready to help them grow and become great leaders in our society. The fact that other students in their college elected them to be their leaders is enough to say that they already posses the qualities of good leaders. From here only the sky can be their limit. The Foundation For Tomorrow and all our partner organizations try our best to encourage and support our kids to pursue their ambitions as far as they can go. History tells us that a number of great leaders in this world started their journey in their early youth: Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Koffi Annan, Nyerere, Nkurumah and many more.
What does it take for kids to realize their dreams?
So many things are involved, but mostly they need to be well prepared psychologically so that they can see the positive side of life, regardless their background or status. In doing so, TFFT hired the Tanzania Women Research Foundation (TAWREF), an organization which has expertise in providing psychosocial support to orphaned and vulnerable children. TAWREF partnered with TFFT to provide Trauma Focused-Child Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) to our scholarship kids aged 7-13 years old. They started by doing screening to identify kids who will need psychosocial intervention. This took place from October 8-11.
Then the intervention will take place sometime early next year. In order for this to be sustainable, TFFT sent me and our office Manager, Hedwiga, to attend a two week training on TF-CBT facilitated by experts from the University of Washington in collaboration with TAWREF so that in the future TFFT will be in a position to pass the knowledge and skills to our kids’ care takers and partner organizations for the balanced treatment from whomever will be involved in taking care of these precious kids.
As I wind up today, I leave you with big smiles from our future great ladies, Nicemary, Mary and Magdalena who completed their form four final exam on October 19. Wishing them all the best with their next level of education.
Asante sana!