Graduate Update – Pelu (’15)

This is a continuation of our series of blogs written by our graduates! These are all girls who had living at Bibi Mimi’s Girls’ Home on our Kitongo campus, but who graduated from Joseph and Mary Secondary School (several of them among our first ever class of graduates), and are now in various higher education programs around Tanzania! We know that many of our supporters are interested in what these young women are up to these days, so we hope this provides some insight.

We asked the girls to not only update us on what they were studying, but, like any recent graduate, what some challenges were that they had faced since leaving our campus and how they have managed to cope with those challenges. We also asked them to pass on pieces of advice to their younger sisters!

“My name is Pelu. I am currently in the second year of 2-year diploma in the Institution of Journalism at Media Production at Habari Maalum College which is located in Ngaramtoni, Arusha, Tanzania. Before starting my education programs, I went to study and get some computer skills at a VETA course in Mwanza, which has been able to help me in my higher education programs.

Academically, my time at Joseph and Mary prepared me very well to study hard which will help me face my dreams and reach my goals, and to make a schedule which will help me do my tasks on time. Personally, my time at Mainsprings prepared me well to face challenges and how to pass the adolescent stage and prepare for my future. I want to become a journalist because I want to inform, educate, and advocate change for those people who need help. I hope to study more and more and get a good job which will help me be able to help people who are poor and those who are in need.

The hardest part of living away from campus is meeting new people who have different behaviors and lifestyles and living without my Mainsprings sisters. I miss the campus because we used to play, eat, go to school together, and the matrons were always there to help take care of us and cook us delicious meals.

My advice to the younger girls at Mainsprings is to continue working hard in school and to have BIG dreams! I would also tell them to respect their matrons and people around them, to continue to do their daily chores and not ignore them, to love and respect one another, and to pray hard because God is everything to us!”

After graduating in our first class in 2015, Pelucy (“Pelu”) completed a 1-year certificate program in Media Studies and Communication at Habari Maalum College in Arusha. She then went on to begin a 2-year diploma program in Media/Communication at Habari Maalum. She has completed the first year of this 2-year diploma program and is about to begin her second year.

Categorized in: graduate girls, Mainsprings

This post was written by Mainsprings