Case Study 2

Catherine Kayumbo’s parents died when she was at Primary school. She was taken in by her Uncle who has a wife and 5 children of his own aged between 16 and 2 1/2 years old. Catherine’s older brothers and sisters all left to go to Dar es Salaam to find a new life, so far all are still unemployed.

If the Livingstone Tanzania Trust had not stepped in with an offer to pay for her school fees, she would have gone to Dar as well where she thinks she would have got a job as a house girl or worked in a bar. From talking to her you can tell that she knew what going to Dar really meant.

Catherine is a smart girl whose ambitions now are much higher that bar or house work . She wants to work in tourism as a guide or in administration. We talked to her about what she needs to do to achieve this dream and she not daunted at the prospect of hard work. She wants to go to and do A-levels and you can see in her face that she hopes the funds will be there to help her achieve this dream. She is interested on History, civics and English and we discussed human rights and civic responsibility. Her conversational English is excellent and her confidence is great to see. We meet so many students who cannot look you in the eye but not Catherine, she keeps eye contact, thinks about your questions and answers them intelligently. She has a great sense of humour to boot.

Her uncle is very supportive of Catherine and whilst she has to do her household and farm chores, she is not given so much that it detracts from her homework.

In 2009 we gave her a head torch to help her study at night, but it was stolen by a house guest. She was very upset and wrote me a wonderful letter apologising for the loss, saying how important the torch was for her studies and asking for another one. It was the best £10 I have spent!

I asked if she had a boy friend and she replied “No, it is not my time” She will not be distracted from her studies!!

I am hopeful that Catherine will one day come and work for the Livingstone Tanzania Trust.

Supporting students like Catherine is one of the most rewarding parts of our work. Catherine is not just a photo and a once a year school report, Catherine is a real person with ambitions and dreams. The loss of her mother and father nearly robbed her of the opportunity to realise those dreams, but thanks to LTT’s sponsors, she can reach for the skies.

In 2011 Catherine starts her 4th year at secondary school.