Aziza never knew her father, and her mother, Jackline Hassan, died from illness when Aziza was a few years’ old. She lives with her step-mother, Trizer Hassan, and her brother (Shaban, 15) and sister (Zorah, 19) in Ndhiwa, about 15 miles away. Her step-mother brought her to Achungo in 2014, into 3rd grade.
Before that Aziza attended Rodi Township. She says there weren’t enough desks for everyone and the teachers often didn’t show up for class or finish their curriculum. They had to pay school fees, but the teaching was not good. “Achungo has better teachers and better teaching.”
Aziza apparently had some surgery when she was younger, and she wants to become a surgeon (“maybe for stomach”). “I want to help in rescuing the sick since diseases have broken-out in our village.”
She likes studying English, skipping rope, volleyball, and other games and watching Bollywood movies. When she goes home during holidays and school breaks, she likes reading storybooks, helping her step-mother in her shop selling charcoal and fruit as well as helping with household chores.
“I would like to tell my friends in America that we are very thankful about the favors they have done to us. We love them very much. We pray that God to protect them. We love the Graham Middle School [its students wrote letters one year].”