Seventeen-year old Sesita is on a life changing journey. Unlike so many girls in Longido DIstrict in northern Tanzania, she received the chance to go to secondary school. It was Sesita’s mom, Reson, who made sure that her daughter got this opportunity.
Reson, a single mom of four children, lives in a traditional boma on the foothills of Mt. Longido. She struggles to provide for the family by selling firewood and charcoal. Although she desperately wanted her daughter to break the cycle of early marriage and poverty, she could not afford to send Sesita to school. Reson heard about how TEMBO supports girls’ education and she was determined to fight for her daughter.
When Sesita was in standard 6, Reson began approaching TEMBO to ask for their support. The following year, the determined mom visited TEMBO regularly to ask them to sponsor Sesita. “Yes, I remember Mama Sesita,” says Paulina, Director of TEMBO. “She would often pop in to remind us of her request. She was relentless.”
Why is education for her daughter so important for Reson? She reflects that “No one in my boma went to school. Please God,” she prays, “let all my children go to school. When people talk about education, they are happy. When you see someone doing something good, you say ‘education’ When you see someone in a house, you say ‘education’ “.