Fatuma

Birthday

History

Fatuma and Mwanahalima lived with their very poor grandmother after the death of their mother (they never knew the father). Since she could not take care of two children, the children got separated and Fatuma came to an aunt. Both had no possibility to go to school. Fatuma is a quiet and a kind child. She has made many friends at Nice View with whom she plays, sings, dances and laughs. Since January 2002, she goes to a private school and has improved her grades.

When doing the entrance exam for the private school, Fatuma was one of the best and is now already in the 7th form together with the older girls Mwanasha big, Mwanahalima and Amina. She is still pretty good in school and spends a lot of her free time in front of the computer. She is still a quiet and kind girl, astute smiling from time to time.

Career

July 2008: Fatuma is now in form 8 (Primary School). After the change of schools (we had decided to let all of our children change the school since the situation at the previous one was intolerable), she has significantly improved her performance. She will probably finish school with a good exam and will likely be accepted by a good Secondary School. The schools choose students based on their leaving certificates. Like her older sister Mwanahalima, she is amongst the ones that take touchingly care of the little ones.

July 2009: Fatuma successfully finished Primary School end of last year and since begin of this year she and Mwanasha Big attend a Secondary School in Nyahururu west of Nairobi. We had decided to send them there, since education is better in the Nairobi area compared to along the coast. However, the school has strict rules, and we have almost no contact to the girls and they are quite homesick. Also for us it is difficult knowing them that far from home after almost 10 years in Nice View. Luckily they have each other, although they are in different classes and bedrooms. Furthermore, they come home for 4 weeks every 3 months. Fatuma is the quieter of the two and usually spends her weekends reading books.

February 2010: After careful deliberation and with a heavy heart, we have decided withdrawing Fatuma of the Secondary School end of December after completion of the school year. Her performance had worsened rapidly, and she did not show any motivation improving it. She has now started with an education as an office junior and is educated by our school secretary and the headmaster. Until now Fatuma enjoys the training, and we hope that she will continue developing in a positive way.

November 2010: After our school secretary resigned a few weeks ago, Fatuma has taken over the school office. She does it very well, and it is remarkable how grown up she has become within the past months.