Featured Students

Alex lost his parents before he started school.  An uncle offered to pay for Alex to go to a good primary school if Alex was accepted.  Shortly after being accepted to preschool, the uncle died.  Alex spent a year in his village before a sponsor was found for him.  His intelligence and motivation were immediately apparent.  Alex has been at the top of his class throughout his years at Kibeta English Medium Primary School.  He subsequently was graduated from secondary school.  He wants to become a doctor and he is certainly able academically. We look forward to helping him with his progress.

In his own words in a letter to his sponsors, Alex says:

I am studying hard in order to achieve something at the end. At our school they provide us with quality education and care…I would like to give thanks to you for paying for my school fees from Standard One until now and I wish and beg you to continue like that up to the end. May God be with you in your life.

Evodius met us first one evening several years ago bringing along an “uncle” to represent the parents who had died.  He was a desperate but hopeful young man who placed the hopes of his future success on our shoulders by telling director Gayle, “We trust you.”

Dreams of an education had ended halfway through secondary school when funds for the school fees ran out.  Evodius returned to work on a small family plot with his siblings.  He wanted to pursue further academic studies and technical training as an electrician and came to us highly recommended by Jasson Kamala, the then headmaster of Kashasha Vocational Training College (KVTC).

Trustee Judith and her husband Solomon, an electrician, interviewed Evodius, performed further due diligence, and recommended his scholarship application.  Evodius graduated from  Kashasha Vocational Training College (KVTC)  and qualified to continue to the next level of electrical installation studies at Arusha Technical College for a one year program.

It is the ticket to the future!  While we look for sponsors to underwrite his education, we are grateful especially to our donors who give undesignated funds – faithfully – so we can support Evodius

We introduced you to Frank in October of 2014.  He is a VERY bright boy whose family had fallen on very difficult times.  We were concerned that Frank’s potential was being cut off at a very young age.

Since 2014, we have helped Frank to graduate from Imani English Medium Primary School in Karagwe.  Because of his ability and hard work, Frank passed the Primary School National Examinations with outstanding results and was selected to join one of Tanzania’s national special schools designated for gifted students. This is a difficult challenge for many students as the selection requirements are quite rigorous.

GLK is proud that it has contributed to providing the best learning environment for Frank in Primary school education which established a firm foundation for his education and we wish him a success both in life and studies.

Ines, a scholarship candidate we have supported since 2014, lost her father last year in a traffic accident. Her mother, Theonestina, works hard at a local kiosk selling shoes, bed-sheets, etc. to support both Ines and her brother Fred. Her monthly income of approximately $33 is not enough for most family expenses, and certainly not for the primary school education that Ines deserves.

We are proud to say that Ines successfully graduated from primary school and was accepted at Bethania Technical Secondary School in nearby Kemondo.  Her mother and brother are as proud of her as we are.  She continues her studies supported by a GLK scholarship.

Ines 2020

Jenifer began pre-school at a public school, but had to drop out because she owed $4 in school fees. Because her hardworking mother – who was deserted by her husband – could not even find this small amount, Jennifer was denied entrance to primary school which is normally free at government schools. When we met her, she was growing up without going to school at all.

Although she lost over a year of school and at 7 years old, must begin from preschool, we are happy to have paid her debt and arranged for her to attend Kibeta English Medium Primary School as a boarding student where she receives good care and an excellent education. Her sponsor is pleased to give Jenifer this chance.

When Jenifer heard that she might go to a good school, she promised to get a good education for her older sisters and to build a home for her mother.

Your support is changing the life of Susan, a bright and very curious little seven year old. Susan’s father died last year and her mother, who is in very poor health, struggles to take care of her only child through menial work. Unfortunately, Susan’s public school was completely failing her, but her mother had no funds to pay the tuition fees for Susan to attend an adequate school.

But then you came on the scene and, through the GLK Student Fund, gave this bright, promising little girl her first chance to make a better life for herself and her mother. Your generosity made it possible for her to go to a good school and for the first time, to feel that life was not just an insurmountable problem – that there is hope! – and a way out of the poverty, ignorance and disease.

Yared is a born leader – at school, home and church, school. Trustee Grace Kashegwe met him when she was visiting a small village church and was surprised to find that Yared was conducting the choir! Later she discovered that he fulfills yet another leadership role as the head prefect at his primary school. He is a charismatic young boy with great potential.

His family lives in a mud and straw house with a grass floor and a tin roof. They will never be able to help Yared attend a school where he can get the education he deserves. We evaluated his situation and chose an excellent primary school for Yared to attend. As of 2021, he has adjusted well, is earning straight ‘A’s, and is preparing to graduate primary school in 2021.

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Aivan came to us via Trustee Grace, works in public health in the Karagwe District between Bukoba (Lake Victoria) and the Rwandan border.  She introduced us to the son of one of her former colleagues….someone she respected and appreciated over the years.

Traditionally, in Tanzania, health care workers were able to be hired even if the worker wasn’t fully qualified.  However, that has changed and Tanzania is now trying to make sure that every government employee is fully qualified.  While this is a noble goal which corrects a long history of hiring those without the proper qualifications, this has also resulted in the firing of many practically able employees who are technically under-qualified.  One person fitting this description is Aivan’s mother.  She has spent years serving in public health, but without an official qualification.  At the end of 2017, she, along with many health assistants lost their jobs. She moved back to her family farm in Karagwe, and will not be able to support Aivan in a good school.

Aivan’s ability and intelligence is so evident that GLK decided to make an emergency payment at the end of 2017.  We have committed to supporting him through elementary school.  He is at the top of his class and deserves this chance.  He has performed so well academically and we enjoy seeing his progress.

Aivan

Aivan with his Mother

Derick completed form four of secondary school in 2016. He is 18 years old and has been selected to join a certificate course in Accountancy at the College of Business Education (CBE) in Mwanza.

Derick is the first-born of two children. His father Charles was in a car accident in October 2014 which left him a quadriplegic. He has been lying flat on his back since then. Derick’s mother is his father’s caretaker and nurse 24 hours a day. She cannot leave her husband’s side to go out and earn a living. Their livelihood and the medical care depend on hand outs.

We would like to help Derick earn a certificate in accounting so that he can help support himself and his family.

Sima lives with her widowed mother.  Her father died in the beginning of 2013. Although he was a government employee, his retirement rights were bequeathed to his mistress, with whom he has a younger male child.  Thus the wife, received nothing except the house and small plot in which they live. She is a hard worker, doing piece work, cutting and selling grass for mulching, etc. in order to make ends meet. Her children are highly gifted academically and she really wished for her little girl, Sima to get good education in a good school, but she cannot afford to pay for it. Sima is a very confident young girl who believed the government would place her in a school for gifted students.  She has ranked number one student in her class since grade 1.

She began high school studying at a government secondary school, but it was not adequate for Sima’s abilities.  The GLK Student Fund took her to an excellent private secondary school, Katoke Lweru Secondary School, and the head teacher accepted her for beginning in Form One in 2016.  Near the end of that year, the head teacher assured us that Sima was doing well, learning English and that she would succeed in catching up to the school’s standards and move on to Form Two.  (It usually takes a year for government school students to catch up to the higher standards of a private school.)

We visited Sima in October 2016 and were so pleased to see her happy and thriving at Lweru SS.  Other, older GLK Scholarship students have taken her under their wing to help her feel at home there.  Sima’s mother met us in Bukoba town with gifts of thanks that week.