I am Mustapha Rashidi from Tanzania in East Africa. Some people try to compare my name with the name of the Lion King, it does not matter any way.
In September 2009 I got an application form from Peace Corps office in Tanzania, which was for the Youth African Leadership Program, which supposed to be held in the United States of America. I filled out the form, but with no hope that I would succeed. But, on the beginning of November, soon after graduating from Ordinary Level education, it was evening when I received a phone call from my sister Mirinda. She was volunteering in our school and was staying with me and she told me that I am one who was selected to join the program. To some extent you can't imagine how I jumped as if I had wings, or as if I am dancing Masai drums. The next day I started preparation for the journey and on 28th November 2009 we started the journey to USA.
It was a very long plane ride and it was my first time to travel outside of my country. The food I thought to be very bad. Also in USA I was faced with food challenge. The breakfast was almost the same as our breakfast in Tanzania so I made sure that I ate a lot of breakfast to compensate because I knew lunch would challenge me. But the trip was so good, especially on the subject with which we were dealing.
The trip opened my mind and I started to think ab out myself, my community, my Tanzania, and my Africa at large.
On the 29th of December I came back to Tanzania and started advocating in my community as a peer educators mentor as well as conducting different activities in health matters. I wanted to change my community through micro-finance especially to women who have their entrepreneurship skills and helping poorer students go to school by paying school fees. I thought the way was to raise income and only way was to start chicken rising project to raise enough funds for my micro-finance plan to be successful. I asked for a little fund from Ashoka Youth Venture, but they did not provide it to me. I was faced with a lot of challenges especially financial challenges but I did not give up. I used my basic human resources to find different ways to make my dream successful. Finally I succeeded to raise funds from Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Mirinda Gormley and started my chicken rising project. I am hoping soon I will rise much funds for helping kids go to school.
I thought this to be just a start and then I thought of expanding my ideas and the I got idea of exotic rabbit raising, which is in the process. Funds from Bold Leaders program which is supporting my exotic rabbit raising project. We are in the final stages and are hoping to share pictures of that project and the development of the chicken raising project in a few months.
I beg you to keep reading and sharing ideas with me for the impacts of our communities.
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