By Kayla Pate, Development Manager
Ellie Kaaya’s high school education was supported by She’s the First through our longtime partner GLAMI in Tanzania. She is the youngest of 9 children and was the first to not only graduate high school, but also university. She became one of STF’s first Girl-Centered Incubator fellows and founded her own NGO, Her Journey to School, dedicated to empowering girls and removing barriers to education for girls in Tanzania.
Ellie spent this past summer in the U.S., as she earned a coveted Mandela Washington Fellowship from the U.S. Government, a leadership development program for powerful young African activists. She counts Michelle Obama among her fans! Ellie also owns a beading business called Swahili Creations, to fund her programs.
Basically, Ellie is a She's the First legend.
But before that, she was a girl who wanted to be student body President. Let’s hear it in her words:
When I was in my second year of University in 2016, it was time to elect university leaders. At St. Augustine University of Tanzania, it was believed that women can not be presidents, nor did they give a chance for one to be; but I wanted to serve as a President of the student body.
I went door after door to administrations and campus leaders to express my intentions. They said, “Ellie, you are a great leader, but you will not win as a president, you will only win if you contest as a vice president, women make great vice presidents.” I thought to myself, why should I settle for less? I stood my ground and said, “I don't want to be a Vice President, I will contest for the Presidency.”
There was so much resistance and a lot of bullying. But I made up my mind, I wanted to make sure that I set an example of what leadership and women can do.
I considered, What will make that difference if I just go to do the same thing that other people have been doing over the years? So I said, I'm going to go for the presidency. And I'm going to show people that it is possible to be president as a female.
I went to students, I campaigned, we were going around the area in the university making people know what my intentions were and why they should vote for me. Nevertheless, I didn't win. But people kept telling me that: “Ellie, you planted a seed that will grow one day.”
Ellie went on to mentor Fides, also a student enrolled with our Tanzanian partner, GLAMI. When Fides arrived at university, Ellie encouraged her to run for student body president. Fides received little encouragement from others and many times was actively discouraged from pursuing the post. People told her she was wasting her time.
“When I stood as a contestant, I carried the spirit of leadership of all other women with me, because I knew I wasn’t just standing for myself, but for the rest of us all.”- Fides
When the results came, Fides won with 82% of the votes, becoming the first female class president at St. Augustine University of Tanzania.
“I was so happy that it was possible for the seed that I had already even forgotten about planting had blossomed into something amazing. I was so proud of her. Whatever we do as women today with passion and investment, it pays off. It won't show the results today, tomorrow it will.
I planted a seed that grew to make a difference in the community and changed the status quo. This is the change I want to continue seeing by bridging the gender gap that exists in Tanzania.” - Ellie
Even after winning, Fides faced many challenges, because others did not accept a woman to be their leader. Instead, she faced them head on: Bringing solar lights to the community, fixing plumbing problems, and providing water tanks.
Fides has some advice for all of us:
“My advice for all the women out there is we should support other women. There is so much power in a woman supporting another woman. We should honor the fact that we are the mothers of tomorrow and leaders of today.”