I'm raising money to send Anwarite, a young woman I've known since she was 11, to her Master's program at the University of Dar es Salaam.

My name is Luke Bodmer. I'm a postdoctoral scientist working in neuro-oncology research. When I was 19, I spent a summer traveling and ended up in a small village called Ibumila, in the mountains of Njombe, Tanzania. While I was there I stayed with a family, and that's where I met Anwarite, the youngest daughter.

Public school isn't an option in Ibumila. The nearest school is a boarding school about an hour away, and room and board there costs hundreds of dollars a year. That's a small fortune for most families in the village, but it wasn't much for a college student from the US, so I offered to pay it. When I did, I made a commitment that I would keep paying for her schooling for as long as she wanted to keep going.

This summer, Anwarite graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam with a degree in Language Studies. According to Tanzania's 2022 Demographic and Health Survey, only about 3% of Tanzanian women aged 25-29 have completed a university degree. In Njombe, the rural region she's from, fewer than 2% of the entire population has.

A few days ago she reached out to tell me she's been accepted into a Master's program at the University of Dar es Salaam. Her goal is to earn a PhD and eventually bring what she's learned back to the region where she grew up.

This is also why I'm reaching out here. What started as one promise to one kid has grown into the Tanzania Education Project, which I turned into a registered nonprofit in 2021. We now support five students from Ibumila. I kept things small on purpose while I was finishing my PhD, but now that I've moved into postdoc life, and Anwarite has graduated, I feel like I'm in a position to expand a bit and start asking for help outside my own circle. This fundraiser is just for Anwarite's Master's.

Image: Anwarite as a child getting ready for grade school.

THE COST

The program is 18 months. The minimum amount I need to raise comes to 3,060,000 Tanzanian shillings, about $1,161. Here's the breakdown:

Tuition fee ........................ 2,750,000 TSh

Registration ....................... 20,000 TSh

Student Union fee .................. 20,000 TSh

Caution money ..................... 50,000 TSh

Student ID ......................... 5,000 TSh

TCU fee ............................ 20,000 TSh

Initial books / study materials .... 150,000 TSh

Initial stationery ................. 45,000 TSh

------------------------------------------------

TOTAL .............................. 3,060,000 TSh

= $1,161 USD

Whatever is raised beyond that will go toward a small stipend for Anwarite, and anything beyond that goes to the other kids in the program.

image: Anwarite's family home.

A LITTLE MORE CONTEXT

When I started the Tanzania Education Project, my goal was to find out what impact a community sees when you just give its children access to education and healthcare. Anwarite is the answer to that question. She has shown that when kids get the right resources, they grow up to do incredible things.

If you want to learn more about the rest of the project, check out our website: tanzaniaeducationproject https://tanzaniaeducationproject.org/

TEP is a registered 501(c)(3), so donations are tax-deductible. Nobody involved takes a salary. Other than bank fees and about $5 a month for website hosting, 100% of the money goes to the students.

Thank you for your support.

- Luke