BACKGROUND

I am Ngaayo Mbekure Lerug from the Oloirobi village in Ngorongoro district, situated within the Ngorongoro conservation area authority. My parents are pastoralists, living a nomadic life, moving from one place to anotherm searching for water and pasture for ourselves and the cattle, so there is no permanent settlement. I am living with my mother and brothers, as my father died in 1998. We are living in rural areas where the accommodation for cattle (Boma) are constructed using woods, and then the Boma are surrounding our houses in a circle, where the wall of our family houses are constructed by wood, and the roof is constructed by grass. During rain season, there is a leakage of water inside. We dry the skin of our cattle and use it as our mattresses. Our source of energy which we use for cooking, comes from the firewood and paraffin lantern for lighting. I started my primary education in 2006 in Oloirobi primary school. My home is far away from school where there is a lot of non-domestic animals. Also, due to a nomadic life, it has been difficult for me to attend school at my mother's home, so my mother asked her friend who is near the school, to accommodate me for five days a week. Then, every Friday, I would go to my mother's home, which is 37 km from the school. I started to accommodate with my mothers friend when I was in standard three, up to standard seven. After finishing my primary education, I was selected to join Embarway secondary school, which is a boarding school located in our district, and then I found myself happy to start to concentrate on my subjects.

My inspiration to study the course comes from my secondary education when I was a form two student studying the topic of tourism, especially about forestry. Later on, I tried to ask many people about the possibility to take a carrier in forestry. One day I was lucky enough to meet a student who was studying a diploma of forestry at the Olmotonyi college in Arusha, which inspired me. In the future, I will provide education to my communities about conserving forestry, and using woodland and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. My dream job is to become the forestry officer for forestry conservation. Since the environment I live in is the conservation area, we need to conserve the trees, which my community now use for construction of their houses and Bomas. So, they need education on how to conserve the trees.

INTERESTS

I am interested in reading story books, volunteering, playing netball and helping people in need.