For more information about any of the scholars below, please email anne@uniteafricafoundation.org. 

LUTHER ANZAAMEN KAVISHE

Luther, 17, lives with his parents, three younger brothers in the Arusha District of Northern Tanzania. The family also lives with a 10-year-old girl who they adopted after she had no place to go following the death of her parents. Luther’s father suffers from serious eye problems and is unable to work, so his mother supports the family working as a primary school teacher. With the help of extended family members, Luther was able to get through primary and graduated with As in all of his subjects. Luther was then selected to attend lower secondary school (7th - 10th grades) at the quality government school for boys, Ilboru. While school was a great challenge for Luther as his mother was unable to provide him with such basic materials as uniforms, books, stationaries and pocket monies, Luther earned As in all of his classes and received certificates of excellence for his work with the school’s Tax Club and as a leading member of the school’s “Inspiration Team.” Ilboru’s Headmaster wrote about Luther: “He has shown great academic achievements in all of his subjects, and he is very hard working, disciplined and creative.” In his free time, Luther enjoys playing piano in church and doing volunteer work for his community. Luther graduated Form 4 in October 2019 with As in all his subjects, and he earned a perfect score on his Form 4 National Leaving Exam, which is Division 1.7. As a Unite Scholar, Luther will now be fully sponsored to attend a quality higher secondary government school for Form 5 & 6 (11th &12th grades), and he will receive one-to-one mentor support as well as trainings in critical life skills and the soft skills of professionalism necessary for success. Unite is committed to doing everything possible to help Luther to achieve his dream of continuing his studies in physics, chemistry and mathematics so that he may one day become an aircraft engineer. “I want to help my country and develop the aviation industry.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF LUTHER presenting at Unite’s Kick-Off Scholars’ meeting, January 2020.

TO SUPPORT LUTHER’S EDUCATION, DONATE HERE.

ANETH ALPHONCE SELELI

Aneth, 17, is from the Tabora Region of Western Tanzania. She is the oldest of three children born to her parents. Her father is a peasant farmer and her mother is a small-scale tailor, mending people’s clothing in her home. Her younger sisters are nine and two years old. When Aneth was very young, her father worked as a primary school teacher. During that time, he borrowed money from a bank to build their family home. However, the school went bankrupt and couldn’t pay him for many months of wages, so her father went deeply into debt. At that time, Aneth’s mother was very ill and couldn’t work. Since then, her father has barely managed to dig out from under his debt and provide for his family working as a peasant farmer. Throughout Aneth’s schooling, there have been many times her father could not pay her fees or even afford a single notebook. “This slowed down my performance,” Aneth explains. Still, she finished primary school with all As and was chosen to attend the lower secondary school (7th - 10th grades) at the top government school for girls, Tabora. While at school, her parents were again unable to provide her any money for stationaries, uniforms, subject books or even medicine when she was sick. However, Aneth persevered and graduated Form 4 in October 2019 with As in all her subjects. Aneth also earned a near perfect score on her Form 4 National Leaving Exam of Division 1.11.

As a Unite Scholar, Aneth will now be fully sponsored to attend a quality higher secondary government school for Form 5 & 6 (11th &12th grades), and she will receive one-to-one mentor support as well as trainings in critical life skills and the soft skills of professionalism necessary for success. Unite is committed to doing everything possible to help Aneth to achieve her dream of becoming a Telecommunication Engineer and “joining together African girls and women so they can understand their rights and em- brace freedom of expression against such negative cultural practices as Female Genital Mutilation, Gender-Based Violence and early marriages.” “Together,” she writes, “we will fight oppression all over the world.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ANETH.

Click here to see Aneth saying thank you to Unite!

TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION IN SUPPORT OF ANETH, DONATE HERE.

IMANI NTAMANWA FAUSTINE

Imani, 20, is from the Mwanza District of Northern Tanzania. He is the only son born to his father, but his mother had six other children, ages 38 to 10 years old, with other men. Imani’s father abandoned him and his mother when Imani was a young boy. Imani has no contact with him or received any support from his father ever since. Instead, Imani relied 100% of his mother for all of his care and needs. In 2010, Imani’s mother passed away due to complications during childbirth with Imani’s youngest sibling, Miriam. Now an orphan, Imani lives between his oldest brother’s home, who is a pastor at a local church, and his oldest sister’s home, who lives with her husband and children in the Seregenti district.

Imani attended a local government primary school, and though he struggled for money for books and basic supplies, he was able to graduate with the highest marks in his class. Imani was ulimately selected to attend the Bariadi Tanzanian Government Lower- Secondary School for his O Levels (Form 1 to Form 4), and while there he held such leadership positions as First Aid Prefect, English Prefect and Head of School Prefect. Imani graduated Form 4 in October 2019 with excellent marks and earning Division 1 on the Tanzanian Form 4 National Leaving Exam. As a Unite Scholar, Imani will now be fully sponsored to attend a quality higher secondary government school for Form 5 & 6 (11th &12th grades), and he will receive one-to-one mentor support as well as trainings in critical life skills and the soft skills of professionalism necessary for success. Unite is committed to doing everything possible to help Imani to achieve his dream of becoming a successful doctor who can provide quality care for people who suffer, specifically for those living with disabilities.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF IMANI.

TO MAKE A DONATION IN SUPPORT OF IMANI, CLICK HERE.

NEEMA PAUL MBEMBATI

Neema, 17, grew up in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. When Neema was just a baby living in a remote village with her family, her father died from a long unidentified illness. He was too poor to access proper medical care or afford any medicine to ease his pain. Neema’s mother had been just a homemaker with no income, so when her husband died she had no way to care for her four young children. She also never received any assistance from her husband’s extended family. So Neema’s mother decided to leave three of her children in the village with her own mother and then took Neema, the baby, to Dar Es Salaam to find employment. In the city, Neema’smother has since worked as a toilet cleaner and petty street seller of groundnuts.

To help her mother, Neema joined an acting troupe as a small child and performed dramas around neighborhoods and in churches in exchange for money. In a stroke of good fortune, she was chosen by the international charity World Vision to receive uniforms and school supplies throughout her primary school years. World Vision also gave her soap and sugar. Neema completed primary school in 2015 earning all As and was then assigned to the renowned Zanaki government day school for her lower secondary education (O Levels, or Forms 1 through 4). The challenge was that Zanaki School waslocated too far from her mother’s home for Neema to safely travel back and forth every day so she went to stay with a family who gave her room and board in exchange for slave labor. Though she suffered greatly, Neema was able to graduate Form 4 in 2019, and she earned the prestigious Division 1 on her Form 4 Tanzanian National Leaving Exam. Neema’s teachers and friends report that “her wit and determination are outstanding.”

As a Unite Scholar, Neema will now be fully sponsored to attend a quality higher secondary government school for Form 5 & 6 (11th &12th grades), and she will receive one-to-one mentor support as well as trainings in critical life skills and the soft skills of professionalism necessary for success. Unite is committed to doing everything possible to help Neema achieve her dream of becoming a medical doctor who can “help make the world a better place by providing care, hope, love, advice and safe treatment to all patients.”

Click here to see a video of Neema.

TO MAKE A DONATION IN SUPPORT OF NEEMA, PLEASE DONATE HERE.

Lazaro Frederick Lazaro

Lazaro, 19, is the first of four children born to parents Fredrick and Noelia, who work as a peasant farmer and housewife in the coastal region of Tanzania. Lazaro’s father is an alcoholic and is physically abusive to the family, mostly to Lazaro’s mother. He pushes Lazaro to drop from school, drink alcohol with him, give up his dreams and just work in the fields. Yet Lazaro has remained steadfast in his commitment to education and learning. Lazaro attended lower secondary school (7th - 10th grades) at the government school for boys, Ushirombo Secondary School. Throughout his four years there, he lacked even the most basic supplies (books, uniforms, stationaries) and each day he had to walk more than an hour to and from school. Lazaro faced extreme hunger and exhaustion, and with no electricity, he was never able to study at home. Yet, Lazaro performed extremely well and was elected to such leadership positions as Class Monitor, Academic Prefect and the Discipline Master of the Tanzania Youth Catholic Student Group. He also received certificates of “Best Student”in Chemistry and Mathematics.

Lazaro graduated Form 4 in October 2019 with As in all his subjects, and he earned the extremely-difficult-to-achieve Division 1 on his Form 4 National Leaving Exam. As a Unite Scholar, Lazaro will now be fully sponsored to attend a quality higher secondary government school for Form 5 & 6 (11th &12th grades), and he will receive one-to-one mentor support as well as trainings in critical life skills and the soft skills of professionalism necessary for success. Unite is committed to doing everything possible to help Lazaro to achieve his dream of “becoming a laboratory engineer or a doctor to help save and care for people in the community who suffer greatly.”

Click here to see a video of Lazaro introducing his family at his home.