Field Notes
What it takes to keep a scholarship past year three
15 April 2026 · 6 min read
Stories
From scholar to selector: Aline’s story
Aline graduated three years ago. Today she sits on the panel that interviews next year’s nominees in her home district.
Junior Baka Wa Bana Sumaili · 20 March 2026 · 4 min read
Aline was nominated by her chemistry teacher in 2019. He’d been watching her stay behind after class for two years, helping classmates work through problems she’d already solved. He told the Umoja partner in her district that she was the kind of student who would change a community if someone gave her a runway.
She graduated in 2024 with a degree in environmental engineering. The scholarship covered her fees, transport, and exam costs. Her mentor, an alumna of an earlier cohort, two years ahead, stayed on the phone with her through every term, including the one her family thought she’d have to leave for.
Today Aline sits on the Umoja panel that interviews nominees in her home district. She remembers what it felt like to be the one across the table. She also remembers that the panel didn’t pick her, her teacher did, and her community did. The panel just confirmed it. That’s the model she’s now passing forward.
About the author
JB
Junior Baka Wa Bana Sumaili
Co-founder
On a volunteer mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Baka noticed that aid was meeting survival needs but missing the one thing that breaks the cycle of poverty: education. He brought that insight back to Tessy, and Umoja began.
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Posts like this one come out of the same field visits and partner reviews that inform every scholarship. Donate to fund the next cohort.