Name: Gerald
Age: 20
Tribe: Hehe
Hobbies: Rap music
Color: Yellow
Favorite Meal: Maize and fish
Gerald’s Story: Gerald was born in Moshi, a city at the base of Kilimanjaro. He does not remember his father who left when Gerald was two and his mother was pregnant with twins. Whilst his father was around the family were renting a room in Moshi, but when he left there was no money to pay the rent, so they moved to Arusha to live with his grandparents.
Gerald’s grandmother sold bananas from her small plantation to pay for his schooling. When he started Secondary School his mother got a job in a milling factory, where she earned 15,000 Tsh (approx $14 US) per week. With this small wage, she paid for Gerald’s schooling. He finished Standard 4, but did not pass the examination for the next level. This is the case for many students as they struggle with the English language (Primary is taught in Kiswahili, Secondary in English) and do not get the extra attention they may need in overcrowded classrooms, with sometimes fifty students in a class.
Gerald is now twenty, and since leaving schooling last year, he has been employed casually doing building work. He has a passion for driving (already has learnt without a license!) and one day his dream is to be a tour guide working for a safari company. This has always been his dream, he says it is “in his blood!” Gerald’s reasons for choosing this profession are to meet new people and to take them to the beautiful places in Tanzania – also the driving of course!
The family; Mum, Gerald and twin twelve year old sisters, live in a rented double room in Kimandolu, a suburb of Arusha. At the Umoja Youth Empowerment Centre, Gerald hopes to gain further education and life skills, which will be the stepping stones to his future career.
