Dr Maria Kamm Public Lecture on Girls' Education ~ Father Kidevu

When you speak about Weruweru Girls School,you directly speak of Dr Maria Kamm. She is the iconic woman who glorified that school and groomed hundreds of today's strong women in Tanzania,in various fields. The likes of Dr Asha Rose Migiro, Dr Mary Nagu, Ambassador Zainab Maajar, Hellen Kijo-Bisimba and so many more! She is the reason why many of us had that golden chance to have our foundation made in concrete.

Today from 10a.m at the Julius Nyerere Conference Hall, Dr. Kamm gave a Public lecture on "The Power of Educating the Girl Child", a gathering that was attended by hundreds of Weruweru Alumni and members of the public.

It was epic!!

One of Weruweru Alumni Foundation committee member,June Warioba...rocking a blazer made out of the Weruweru Golden Jubilee khanga .

Mama Kamm was estounded by the love in the conference hall....

Seeing many of her students,all grown up now and holding high positions in the society.

Among many of her points, Dr Kamm insisted that, no one will change our education system in Tanzania BUT Tanzanians ourselves. She stressed the fact that, educating a girl and grooming her from her tender age is equal to educating the other half of the population for the development of the country.

" Weruweru brought up competitive,innovative,respective and time conscious ladies,and I am proud of all of you"she said.

Let's just say,it was a very emotional get together for many Weruweru alumni

"The role of a woman remains the same,no matter how educated she is. But we need to have equal opportunities among us"..she added. According to Dr Kamm, in 1954,only 9 girls graduated their Form Two level,which was the highest level then...and She was among those. However,there were discrimination on women in terms of salaries...and even the girls' certificates were marked "Women education certificate"

The moderator of the symposium was Dr Mwele Malecela,a Weruweru product and now Director General of NIMR.

Ambassador Zainab Maajar who is the chairperson of the Weruweru Alumni Foundation committee for the Golden Jubilee introduced some of the influential Weruweru alumni who were present at the event.

BOT was also present and they communicated to all guests on the Mwl Nyerere Foundation scholarship which sponsors girls studying Mathematics and Science. The scholarship involves payments of all costs,living expenses and a laptop,for undergraduate students...and a partial scholarship for Masters

We also sang the Weruweru school song!! Can you imagine,Dr Kamm remembers every word of the song and she sang along,throughout!

Until the ed of the symposium,it was clear that,Alumni of all schools in Tanzania have responsibilities to bring back and develop the quality of the education provided by their schools. Weruweru Alumni Foundation has been formed to do just that.

The issue of Girls' pregancies while in school was also discussed. Mama Kamm advised for both parents and teachers to find means of helping these children finish their education,regardless.

Teachers lacking the passion for their job was found as one of the problems in Tanzania's education. As one of the guests pointed out,many of our current teachers chose the field only because of the University Loans provided...

And ...that marked another highlight on the Weruweru Golden Jubilee! For videos of the various occasion of this event,visit our Youtube page,Missie Popular.