Renatha
Dar es Salaam Maritime Institute
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Renatha
Renatha came to us in 2022 shortly after her mother died. She and her sisters were truly mourning the loss of their mother. Renatha had completed her secondary school education and was working where she could, but seemed to be a bit 'at sea' as far as her future plans went. Her goals were realistic, but not inspiring.
GLK Trustee Joyce had been informed of a course of study that could lead to a solid career: that of work with the national maritime operations. Last June, GLK trustees spoke with Renatha about this possibility to determine her interest. They also evaluated her abilities to be successful in this challenging and male dominated field.
Dar es Salaam Maritime Institute
In September of 2022, Renatha joined the one-year certificate program "Basic Technician in Marine Operations". Her classes concentrate on Engineering and Transport pertaining to running a ship. Renatha says that she understands and enjoys these subjects. Her commitment was confirmed by one of her tutors, who met briefly with Trustee Judith during her visit of Renatha, March 10th.
Renatha seems to be committed to further diploma level studies. Let us wish her success and consider how to finance her continued studies that would lead to rewarding work and a career for Renatha.
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Alphonce, Jordan, and Lightness
with GLK Associate, Arnold
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Jacqueline and Avith (center)
with siblings
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A new Tanzanian law was recently passed that affects young students - including some of our own. As of March 1st, children attending pre-school through standard four are not allowed to be boarding students. The reasoning behind this new law seems to be the altruistic goal of keeping young children together with their families. Unfortunately, the timing of this decree and its universal application leaves schools and students in somewhat of a quandary.
Here are a couple of reasons that we have discovered on why younger students are in boarding schools. First: Families, friends and guardians often struggle to send a younger child to boarding school because the situation "at home" may be worse than the care they would receive at a good boarding school. In some cases, there are no parents alive to even be considered. Secondly: There may not be adequate schools within a reasonable distance of some children. Families will sacrifice a lot to send their younger students to a good school even if that includes boarding there. These considerations were always important in our scholarship decisions. From the beginning, GLK has been reticent in accepting younger students as boarding scholars because of the affect it has on the family.
The new law leaves a possibility for schools to apply for a permit to continue keeping the younger students as boarders. As of now, this ruling would affect eight of our scholarship students at three different schools. Our associate, Arnold, is in contact with both these schools and with the families in our common efforts to act for the good of our vulnerable students. Four of these children could be quite adversely affected by this ruling. They are our main concern at the moment.
At publishing time, changes to this law are being considered by the government.
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