About

Zahra Suleiman, born in 1994, is at the top of her class at the Ummu Salama Secondary School. Her school is just minutes from the Umma Ayman orphanage where she has lived with her older sisters, Aisha and Habiba, for three years. After her father died in 2005, Zahra moved to an orphanage because her mother could no longer afford to support her and her four other siblings. Her mother, whom she and her siblings call Mama Aysha, sells milk at a shop. Mama Aysha still supports Zahra's youngest sister, who suffers from heart problems. Zahra's mother did not attend secondary school, speaks no English, and is often incapacitated by a recurring illness. Zahra loves to sing with her sister Aisha and considers her two older sisters to be two of her very best friends. Aside from singing, Zahra also loves to read and study. She values education because she believes that is the only way to solve many of the problems here in Tanzania. She said, "When I get an education, I help myself, the people of Tanzania, and my family." An aspiring professor, Zahra loves physics, chemistry, and the sciences in general. The hero of her school is her principal and she loves her biology teacher Mr. Ally Saleh. Without The School Fund, Zahra would not be able to go to school and pay her school fees, leaving her in alone in her quest to become a professor. She thanks The School Fund for allowing her to do more with her life and not just be married off taking care of the home.