Nanyori’s Story

International Journalism, University of Central Lancashire, 2018-22

My name is Nanyori Olemako and I am from Arusha, in the northern part of Tanzania. My kokorozashi is to advocate the eradication of negative socio-cultural practices in rural northern Tanzania.  

As my father had passed on when I was young, I had to leave my home town and live with my mother and her relatives. I mostly don’t remember my childhood as I was transferred to multiple schools due to the work my mother was doing. I struggled with being taken to the headmaster’s office every now and then due to late payment of school fees.   

I started applying for scholarship programs while working part time to pay for my college tuition with the help of my mother, as she was barely getting by with my siblings’ school fees and that was when I was invited to an interview by Ashinaga. I wanted to be a journalist with the intention of spreading awareness about the negative social cultural practices that were and still are being performed by the Maasai culture because they have brought so many negative impacts on my friends and relatives back in Loliondo, my hometown.  

In the preparation programme in Uganda I first met the most intelligent and beautiful Ashinaga candidates who have become family. They showed me that I wasn’t alone, the struggle is different but we share the same cause. They inspired me to become courageous and confident and they were my comfort space.  

I studied International Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK.  

My course was practical which made it very easy to engage with, and also motivated me to think of many strategies I could use to fulfil my kokorozashi. I did my remote internship at Twende Innovation Centre in Tanzania, and it was thrilling to be part of an organisation that used local technology to create better solutions for their environment.   

While I was in university my kokorozashi often changed, as I couldn’t pinpoint on the problem I actually wanted to solve. However, with the help of my SRC [Student Relations Coordinator] at the time, Jordan McFarlane, I could structure my Ashinaga proposal in a clearer way. Through working on it, I came to understand that I could use different strategies to advocate for women and girls who have to endure the negative impacts of social cultural practices that are still entailed in their culture.  

I finished my university degree in 2022 and moved back to Tanzania. I volunteered for an NGO called NARESSO and started my internship at UONGOZI Institute. I have always wanted to work at the Institute as one of their leadership programmes is the Women’s Leadership Programme. This is a six-month programme that provides strategies and skills to women leaders in their workplace, enabling them to strive harder and get into higher leadership positions (many of our workplaces are male dominated). After my internship, I worked as a consultant for three months at UONGOZI Institute, where I assisted them in events management and coordination.    

I am currently working remotely as a Marketing and Communications specialist at Dillon Morgan Consulting firm in Texas, United States, and also taking extra classes in Graphic Design. Alongside, I am working on the brand image of NARESSO, as a communications officer.  I plan to work with the NGO to advocate for the eradication of negative socio-cultural practices in rural northern Tanzania.  

Through the support of my Ashinaga family and coordinators, I became more confident and resilient.  As I started my university degree in Preston, I admit I felt a bit lonely but that was only for a few days when I started blending in and meeting new people, and it was a culture shock but in a good way. I learnt different languages, cultural foods, and I was open minded to discovering new religion which helped my faith grow. Preston was not as scary as it first seemed!  

Because of Ashinaga, I feel more confident with team work, networking, and in sharing my story.