$70,000 a year degree for $400 wages

Hey girl heey!!!

So, it’s the first time I’m talking about money up in these streets and as I mentioned on the Instagram post hyping this fact, it’s super scary for me! I feel like once you get to know how I make and spend my money I’d be super exposed and our relationship would change somehow. You’d say something like “all that noise for $400.” 😂 But I’m sure it’s all in my head and you’ll still love me after this anyway -you will love me right?-lol😂. Plus, I think some of my personal finance choices might actually be helpful for you -she says humbly- considering there isn’t much Afrocentric (or more Tanzanian) personal finance content out there. So let’s dive in, shall we?

Let me start by addressing the title of this post. Yes, $70,000 a year is actually how much my degree cost 😂. And it was actually a 4-year degree so that’s a total of $280,000 give or take. That’s not even counting the $30,000 a year high school I went to for two years. Before you assume I’m some sort of billionaire’s baby -or sugar baby- let me disclose the fact that I’m a proud -poor African- scholarship baby. Now, do I sometimes wish someone could have given me that money to start a business with instead? Totally, yes! But were these academic experiences worth it? Absolutely!

You see, the promise that such an expensive education gives you is that it’ll make you an invaluable member of any organization. And I actually think it does deliver on that promise. But, not in a way that directly translates to you being paid a lot. It just means that your employer will value your contribution, whether or not they’ll compensate you accordingly is another conversation altogether. Depending on where in the world you choose to work, the industry you get into, the role you get in the organization and the generosity of your employer, you may actually end up grossly underpaid. So, when you read that University website page where they say “Where Our Alumni Work” and share these glossy testimonials, take it with a pinch of salt. The glamourous locations and institutions aren’t always guaranteed! 

I, as you may already know, chose to come back home to Tanzania immediately after graduating from University. I was lucky to have graduated with a job offer in hand. The job promised me $680 take-home (that’s $1,000 gross if you care). I don’t know about other markets but that’s a pretty darn good salary for an entry-level job here. Especially because the job came with so many other benefits. For context, below were some of those benefits:

• Airtime allowance

• Fully furnished apartment

• Free Utilities (Electricity, Gas and Water)

• Three meals per day

• Transport to and from work

• Laundry and housekeeping services

• A flight to and from home 3 times a year

• Plus a generous paid annual leave time

Pretty good right? I looked at all those benefits and the pay, did my math and said, if I work really hard and double my pay in two years, I’d be able to at least make $30,000 (the equivalent of my one year of high school fees) in three years. Not too bad for a person earning in TZS! But because this world isn’t my own, 😂 I’m now at the year two mark of post-University and I’m actually getting paid less than I did in my first job because of #COVID-19 and other life factors. 

Here is the promised cringe-worthy moment 😬lol! 😂: I now only earn a stipend of $435 per month. And that’s not even the funniest part! The real joke is that I’ve not even been able to make $15,000 in these two years yet 😂. Unless I count the freelance work and internships I’ve done, which would bring my work experience up to 3 years and total money earned just above the $18,000 mark. 

But hey, let’s step away from the numbers for a second and consider the actual work. I’ve actually been so blessed to do some very meaningful work in this time period. You can check my LinkedIn profile for details (also recommend me for some jobs while you’re there because clearly I need the salary upgrade 😂). On top of that, I’ve had global exposure at unimaginable scales; literally lived, worked and studied in 7 different countries in 7 years. Not to mention I’m often told how absolutely great I am at what I do because I’m a quick study and actually put in the work. So I’m confident my pay is not a reflection of not being valued or not being competent, it’s simply a matter of circumstances. 

And so, how can I reconcile these global exposures, expensive world-class knowledge and my low wage? Simple, I ADJUST! Well, maybe not so simple. 

After sleeping in five-star hotels and having dinner with billionaires, you don’t just move back to your hometown to your furniture-less room without feeling a pinch. I felt the pinch -more like a bite really. My ego was bruised! I felt entitled to a better pay. That I deserved to be one of those exemplary graduates whose jobs post-graduation made it to the “Where Our Alumni Work” page. But, then again, the world -or even my alma mater- doesn’t owe me anything 😂. I’m just lucky to have had those experiences.

With that in mind, I thought to myself, how can I make the best of these experiences? How can I live my now ordinary life in an extraordinary way considering all the privileges and knowledge I’ve collected over the years? And the answer has mostly been in the following five personal finance rules I now live by:

1. DON’T CONVERT THE AMOUNT ACROSS CURRENCIES

   ... unless you wanna get a heart attack, then by all means. Because the fact of the matter is, in my employer’s books, I get paid 1 million Tanzanian shillings, not $435. 1 million sounds so much better than 435 right? And in some ways it is! Because while $435 barely gets you anything in the US, it goes a long way here - click here to see a comparison. So, if you are earning in Tanzanian shillings, count, budget, and spend your money in Tanzanian shillings. And if you really must compare, compare the purchasing power, not the value because my $435 here easily affords me a middle-income lifestyle. 

2. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS

   This is a big one! I hate to say it but if you can’t afford it, you can’t have it! And perhaps this is another reason why not to convert your money across currencies. I remember when I just got back to Tanzania I’d go places and see a hairstyle priced at $21 (TZS 50,000) and I’d think to myself, ah, it’s just $21. But the truth of the matter is $21 is equal to the amount I’d spend on a month’s worth of groceries here and it’s 4.8% of my income. Considering maybe I’d want to do my hair twice in a month, that’s almost 10% of my pay going to beautifying dead cells. But then again, maybe doing my hair is really important to me, in that case, I’d need to budget my money well enough to accommodate this expense. There! I said it! You need a BUDGET -especially when you aren’t earning a lot! I’m very honest with myself about what’s important to me and what isn’t and I assign $ value to them in my budget in order of importance. That way, I know what I can afford and what I can’t and STICK TO THEM. 

3. SUPPLEMENT YOUR INCOME -IF YOU CAN 

   It’s straightforward if you wanna spend more, earn more! This can be in form of a profitable #sidehustle that gives you extra cash, generous material donations from your family (thanks dad for always bringing me fish and mommy for growing plantains) or even a sugar daddy/mommy who pays for your rent 😂 -listen, no judgment here.

4. UPSKILL

   Ideally for free because what would be the point of finding other ways of spending money you don’t have 😂 So yeah, find opportunities to learn because that just sets you up for a better-paying opportunity. What you know now will only get you a job like the one you have, what you learn is what helps you pivot. So, grow your value, grow your worth. I’m currently learning Data analysis and visualization.

5. KEEP LOOKING FOR YOUR NEXT OPPORTUNITY 

   And this doesn’t necessarily mean moving outside your current organization. You can actually look for opportunities within because chances are you’ll always be able to negotiate an increment when you move. No one rewards you for being good at being stationary in your career 😂 But don’t just move for the sake of moving! Move intentionally and into roles that actually grow you because then you’ll rack up even more knowledge for the next role and the next role. 

That’s it! That’s how I’m reconciling my $70,000 a year degree with my $435 stipend. 

In my next post, I wanna share how I actually spend my $435 as a young and fun-loving person in Dar es Salaam. Stay tuned! 

In the meantime, share your thoughts in the comment section below because I really wanna know if I’m the only one out here trying to make sense of their education vs income ratios. 😀

Love,

Bernie

Tuko Pamoja! We are together!

“Msichana hodari ninajitambua, ninajiamini nina ndoto kubwa. 

Msichana onesha uwezo wako.” 

“A strong girl, I know myself, I believe in myself, I have big dreams. 

Girl, show your strength.”

This was the chorus of the weekend for Grumeti Fund’s Community Outreach Program (COP) girls’ empowerment sessions. Over 1600 Secondary School girls from Bunda and Serengeti districts convened to discuss challenges hindering girls’ access to education and gain the tools to face and overcome them. Women from a myriad of professions came together to impart knowledge on reproductive health, menstrual hygiene, the importance of solidarity among girls, how to succeed in education and career development. All in hopes that these girls will come out of these sessions, empowered and determined to succeed in life.

The motto for these sessions is “Tuko Pamoja” which means, we are together. The women who organize these sessions really embody that spirit of togetherness and are inspirational role models for the girls. They come from different organizations but are united in their desire to inspire young girls to stay the course and get an education. 

Frida Mollel, Head of COP at Grumeti Fund, said “[girls] have to know the circumstances hindering their success in order to face them. Compared to their male counterparts, many challenges stand between them and education; early marriages, teenage pregnancies, FGM. But we want them to know that being a girl is not bad luck or crippling. You can be a girl and do great things in this world.”

Frida’s sentiments were echoed in the keynote speech by Rebeca Gyumi. Rebeca urged the girls not to be defined by their circumstances, and to be confident and assert their rights, especially their right to education. She told the girls that the changes they seek shall come from them. [They] should refuse to be part of the statistics of women who are mutilated or married at an early age.

Rebeca’s own work and life story typify her advise. She is a lawyer by profession and her organization, Msichana Initiative, is at the forefront of advocating for girls’ rights in Tanzania. She believes that our society’s perspective of a girl child needs to change, and parents need to realize their role in catalysing children success. She said, “A child’s potential is reached by building their knowledge and competence, and that can only be achieved through education. So, parents need to be the biggest champions of education.”

To further inspire and support girls to stay their course, Rhobi Samweli, Founder and Director of Hope for Girls and Women in Tanzania, shared her personal story. She was mutilated at a young age and grew up to establish a Safe House for young girls fleeing FGM in Mara region. At the end of her speech, the girls joined Rhobi in saying no to FGM with the war cry, “ukeketaji basi.” Later Mary Mwakyusa, a reproductive health specialist at Jhpiego, spoke to the girls about reproductive health and menstruation hygiene.

At the end of the sessions, the Grumeti Fund gave each girl a year’s supply of reusable pads. Ms Teddy, a teacher at Manchira Secondary School, expressed how this contribution will improve girls’ retention because more girls will feel comfortable and confident to attend school.

In agreement, Asteria, a student at Ikoma secondary school, said that “When a girl doesn’t have sanitary towels, it really affects her confidence. She can stop showing up to classes, which affects her academic success, and then she does not reach her dreams.”

When asked to share their takeaways from the sessions, Joanitha, a student from Sazira Secondary School, said that this was an excellent platform for girls “to share ideas, inspire and empower each other, and do activities together.” Joanitha also said she cannot wait to share her learnings with other girls so that they can also be inspired to reach their dreams. Pauline, a fellow student from Issenye Secondary School, added that “girls can continue to show respect in their communities while also standing up for their rights.”

Around the world, the next generation of girls are determined to speak up against injustices and are amplifying each other’s voices in their cry for justice. They are spreading a message of confidence and solidarity in achieving equality, despite several challenges along the way. How are you united in this course? Share your tuko pamoja (we are together) moment by tagging @grumetifund #tukopamoja #girlpower.

How humans and technology are working together to protect the western Serengeti

In front of the Kitaboka Wagora building stands four 3-meters-tall poles full of snares. These are all the snares that the Grumeti Fund scouts have collected in and around the Grumeti concessions in 2019. Some of these snares were found set between trees in the bush awaiting their prey, but some were cut off animals unlucky to have become entangled in the wire noose, freeing them from an unkind death. Poachers set the snares to trap plains game such as zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, topi or impala for the bushmeat trade but snares are indiscriminate killers and often times lions, hyenas, giraffes and elephants fall prisoners to these deadly traps. While bushmeat poaching is currently the largest threat to biodiversity here, elephant poaching for ivory is a constant and increasing concern. Named after a fallen game scout who was shot on duty by a poacher with a poisoned arrow in 2009, the building is the Joint Operations Center, J.O.C. It houses all the Anti-poaching and Law Enforcements Department’s command units.

From within these walls, the Grumeti Fund deploys cutting-edge technology to support its well-trained boots on the ground to combat all poaching threats. Alina, the Operations Room Coordinator and her team, the watchkeepers, monitor the entirety of the Ikorongo-Grumeti Game Reserves complex from their screens. Unlike regular computers, these devices have the Vulcan Inc. program called EarthRanger installed. Alina and the watchkeepers work 24/7 to control radio traffic and collect information from the ground that becomes key in making strategic decisions. For example, EarthRanger can detect movement patterns of all the 30 collared elephants. When an elephant crosses the boundary and enters the village lands, the watchkeepers receive a notification and alert the Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Unit to respond on the ground. The program also captures the movements of all 12 permanent scout patrol camps which help the J.O.C. determine where to deploy its Mobile Patrol Unit (M.P.U).

The apex of the Anti-Poaching Department is the Special Operations Group. The S.O.G. are elite game scouts who are equipped and trained to react quickly to information regarding potential poaching threats anywhere in the Serengeti. The CrossFit trained group is made up of 16 scouts who are deployed in teams of four. At any point in time, one team is permanently stationed in the Rhino Intensive Protection Zone, one is a relief team while the two remaining teams act as the patrol teams. The S.O.G. has a Canine Unit that assists with all tracking needs. The canine unit is made up of rescue dogs from America and their handlers. This four-legged team is extremely effective, and when working in collaboration with the S.O.G. have a success rate of 77%.

The S.O.G works closely with the Joint Intelligence Unit, which is a collaboration between the Grumeti Fund and the Tanzanian Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA).  This part of the department is critical in enabling the team to be proactive – stopping poachers before they kill. Working strategically with the other teams within anti-poaching it has been a game-changer for security here.

We further survey the areas we operate in through a network of high-lying Observation Posts, which are manned 24/7. Some of our scouts form the de-snaring teams who patrol 20 kilometres a day scanning the land for animal traps. The de-snaring units comprise of mostly former poachers who have decided to put their knowledge to good use helping anti-poaching efforts. Poaching remains the biggest threat to wildlife in the Serengeti ecosystem and managing 350,000 acres of wilderness is not an easy feat but a solid boots on the ground foundation, coupled with technology and a focused strategy has allowed us to ensure that our limited resources are deployed efficiently and effectively.

To support the Grumeti Fund scouts click here