Caster is one of 19 children that her father has had with two women. It is not a given that she, as a 15-year-old girl, is able to attend school. In her home town of Nyakanduha in Tanzania, it is normal for women to run a household of their own from a young age. For example, Caster’s three oldest sisters were married at the ages of 17 and 18. “They don’t have a good life,” says Caster regretfully. As a young person who is eager to learn, she wants to have a good education before starting a family. However, her family doesn’t have enough money for books and school supplies.
«I want to complete my school education so that I can support myself when I am older.»
Caster Matthias, 15 – Pupil at Nyakanduha Primary School
Thanks to the project run by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation, Caster has access to many books in her own language from the school library, allowing her to quench her thirst for knowledge. For two years now, she has also been able to write her own stories as part of the project. She also illustrates the texts, which typically run to around 20 pages of A5, with her own drawings and then reads them to her younger siblings. This is all practice for her dream job. Caster wants to be a teacher when she is an adult. In a few years’ time, children might even be learning to read with books that Caster has written herself.
