I am deeply saddened to share the news that our lovely Unite Scholar Pendo Chitulo lost her beloved mother Albina Chitulo this week to a sudden and unexpected illness.
Pendo, 21, lives with her five brothers and sisters — Anthony, Elibariki, Mary, Johnbosco and Laurent — in the Bihawana village of Dodoma Tanzania. Pendo’s father abandoned the family when Pendo was young, and her mother had since struggled to support their basic needs by making grain alcohol and selling it in the streets. It was, and continues to be, a difficult and dangerous life.
Pendo is the only one of her family to go to secondary school. In 2019, she was admitted into Unite’s highly competitive Unite Scholars’ Program. She is now in her second semester of Form 5 (11th grade) at the government Mtwara Girls Boarding School in Mtwara Region. Pendo is extremely bright, and her goal is to continue with her education to become a lawyer and fight for women’s rights, especially for those who are victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
For years Pendo has faced relentless unwanted sexual advances in her impoverished community where many believe she would be better off pregnant than in school. Albina was Pendo’s only protector and advocate for her education, and now Albina is gone. Unite is extremely concerned about Pendo and her siblings as they have no extended family to help provide for, feed, and care for them.
To that end, we are launching a campaign to try and raise $20 a day for the next two years (~$15,000) to provide the bare necessities for Anthony, Elibariki, Mary, Johnbosco and Laurent to allow Pendo herself to complete her A-levels, higher-secondary schooling.
Pendo and her mother outside their family home in January 2021. Click HERE to see their family home.
In the spirit of love, on this Valentines Day, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help Unite provide for Pendo and her siblings throughout this most traumatic and challenging time. In January, our Unite Program Director Anty Marche traveled to Tanzania and visited Pendo at her home. The family’s living conditions are extremely difficult. While on site, Anty purchased for beds, plates, cups, buckets, and cooking items for the family. The children are now orphans in extreme need. With your help, we will do everything possible to ensure their safety and survival.
Click on the links below to see a few short videos of Pendo:
Pendo’s New Year’s Message to Unite, January 2021
Pendo shows Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche her home, January 2021
Pendo introduces her lovely mother Albina, January 2021
Pendo says thank you for Unite’s gift of beds, mattresses, and supplies for her family, January 2021
Pendo with fellow Unite Scholar Loveness at a Unite leadership training event in Dar es Salaam, December 2020.
Pendo (pictured second from the left with Anne Wells and fellow Unite Scholars in February 2020) is a Unite Scholar whose education is being sponsored by the Kit Merriman Scholarship Fund for Girls.
Pendo with Unite’s Program Director Anty Marche in January 2021 during their shopping trip to purchase beds, mattresses, and supplies for Pendo’s family.