How parents' support can help uplift children's dreams

The launch of the book titled 'The First Female President', authored by a 10-year-old girl, was an inspiration to parents, guardians, and children who witnessed the colourful occasion held on Saturday, August 26, at the Ade Park Garden in Mbezi Beach.

The occasion, themed Prepare Your Child for Greatness, was also attended by different professionals who were invited to speak about how they became successful. The aim was to encourage children to focus on their dreams and to remind parents to support their children’s dreams.

Rafat Simba, a sixth-grade student at Turkish Maarif School, caught everyone’s attention because she sat next to the guest of honour and other guest speakers that day.

Her 60-page book written in fiction style, has eight chapters. In the book, Rafat talks about how children, especially girls, can do anything if they believe in themselves and if they get support from their parents.

Rafat expressed sincere gratitude to her mother, Fatma Mbilili, her father, Ally Simba, her siblings, and other family members for their support and encouragement. She also thanked her mentor, Justine Kakoko, for guiding her through the whole process of writing the book.

"In some societies, girls are discouraged from fulfilling their dreams. They are always left behind. The country's first female president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, served as the inspiration for this book. Her being president proves that girls can achieve anything as long as they have confidence in themselves," says the second-born in a family of three children.

She explains that having the first female president in the history of the country was what prompted her to write the book.

Rafat says she developed an interest in writing when she was in preschool. Her preschool teacher used to read different types of books to the class and would sometimes come up with a summary competition to encourage pupils to summarise the books they read. The teacher also engaged the pupils in drama activities, where they narrated stories they had read through various plays.

Rafat is an aspiring young writer and public speaker, thanks to the reading and book-summarising competitions at school, which she says were catalysts for her writing journey. Her interest in reading and writing grew when she went to primary school, where she started writing short stories.

Growing up, Rafat, who spent four years in Kigali, Rwanda, where her father works, was interested in learning languages. She is currently learning Turkish and speaks Swahili, English, and French fluently.

Her mother, Fatma, says she realised that her child had a talent for reading and writing when she was three years old. Fatma had a tradition of reading bedtime stories to her children, and sometimes if they were misbehaving, she would also read them a book.

She says Rafat enjoyed some storybooks, and that there were times when she even crammed every message written in the books.

At times, Rafat would write short stories and give them to her mother to read, which Fatuma thought was a nice thing, although she found it inconvenient at times, especially when she was busy doing other things.

To nurture her talent, Rafat’s parents sent her to Mwanga Mpya Academy for coaching. Among other things, the academy empowers young minds aged 7–12 to unleash their creativity, build confidence, and cultivate a lifelong love for writing.

Mama Rafat enroled her daughter in the academy’s reading and writing club, which has helped to develop her talent. When she went to inquire about enroling her child, she took some of Rafat’s stories and presented them to the officials responsible for mentoring children.

"As the mentor was going through some of the stories, he said they were worth writing and publishing a book," she shares.

Rafat’s father, who works for the Eastern African Communications Organisation (EACO) as the executive secretary in Kigali, Rwanda, could not afford to miss his daughter’s book launch. Mr Simba says the book-writing journey was not easy because it required physical and financial support.

"Today we are happy to see that our daughter has made it. Parents should support their children in every way," he advises.

Mwanga Mpya Academy’s founder, Justine Kakoko, says the launch of the book will inspire other children to read and be keen to learn new things. The executive director of the Tanzania Stemship Foundation, Juliana Marko, said during the book launch that parents and guardians should invest time and money while creating an enabling environment to nurture their children’s dreams and talents. This, she said, would simplify the upbringing of children.

Juliana said every child has their strengths, but some children don’t excel because they lack support.

Officiating the event, CCM’s Youth Wing Vice Chairperson, Rehema Sombi, urged parents to engage themselves in parenting to prepare children to realise their strengths and values.

She said as much parents and guardians are involved in various entrepreneurship programmes to ensure their businesses expand, they should remember that they also need to see their children excel in life.

"You must have a vision for your children and participate in parenting matters as required. This is the only way to have a sustainable vision for your child," she said.

Rehema said the labour market today requires creativity and outstanding performance; thus, for children to be able to stand on their feet, they need to be exceptionally good.

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