Week 7: Youth Booth

Featured this week in the youth booth is a top-notch dancer, In Movement alumni, and one of my close friends, Miss Zulaikah Muhammed.

She prefers to go by Zulaikah, pronounced, “Zoo-lie-kah.”

Zulaikah came to GirlTech as a camper and was incredible.  She served as a supportive leader to all and even led some awesome morning movement sessions.  Her ability to co-choreograph on the spot was remarkable and as I left the camp many of the other Volunteers were saying how impressed they are with the youth I can get work alongside.

She is 14 years but wants it to be known that she will be 15 in five days, on September 18^th!  And do not be mistaken, she may be 13 years younger but is still one of my closest friends in Kampala.

Zulaikah is in P7 this year, the last level before going off to secondary school.  Those in P7 spend the whole school year preparing to sit for their PLE: Primary Leaving Examination.  This is the comprehensive exam administered nationwide that somehow determines where they will be eligible for secondary school. 

Her favorite subject is English because she knows that this is how she will be able to communicate to many outside of Uganda, where she hopes to take her dancing to. 

She was born and raised in Kampala but her heritage can be trace to two different tribes, the Acholi in the North and the Bunyoro in the West.  Due to this she is able to converse in four languages: English, Nubian, Luganda, and Swahili.

Her family history is complicated, with her father taking on six wives.  Due to this she considers her family to be her fellow peers and those at In Movement because they are the ones that provide her with laughter, joy, and smiles.  Her Dad is unable to support all of his children, approximately 30, so there is a lot of perceived favoritism among the wives and kids as to who receives money for school.  Zulaikah has received no school fees from her family since 2005.  Zulaikah is not the only one as her mom produced six children but when she was young one of her sisters was knocked by a lorry and died.  She believes this to be around the year 2000. 

One of her favorite memories from In Movement is the time they went for camping on the beaches of Lake Victoria in Entebbe.

One thing she has learned from In Movement is that you have to try new things even when it is something that you may not know.

When asked if there was one thing she wished she could change about her country it was that she would want to take all the street children to school because they too can be the future leaders.

Zulaikah’s words to the youth out there are to study hard because when you study you have a bright future.

I know that this young girl will go far and that making her dreams a reality will come.