LIFE STORY
Gasica
The fact that Dreams for Kids e. V. was founded is primarily atributed to the meeting of Gasica and Silas in Zanzibar. For Silas, that day in February 2022 is still "one of the most important days of his life: Not only did I gain a friend and brother, I also met one of my greatest role models and inspirations for life". And Silas is not alone. Anyone who knows Gasica knows what a special aztude he has towards life: he radiates charity, gratude and joy. But who is this man? What makes him so special? And what path has he taken in life? Here is the life story of Shafii Mwita Haji: Gasica, a hero on a mission with his vision of a better life for everyone - men, women and children - in Zanzibar. The man who made his dream come true and, at the same time, is still dreaming.
THE NOT EASY START
Born in 1988 inside a tiny house in Magomeni (small village in Zanzibar), Gasica, whose real name is Shafii (‘Blessing’), grew up under difficult circumstances and had to experience the real challenges of life since he was a little boy. He went to a public school in his village with around 100 students in one classroom, poorly trained teachers, no financial support and not enough school equipment. Most lessons were taught in Swahili and the teachers could barely speak English. However, the students had to write their final exams in English. Shafii had not had much to start with and his future prospects were basically chanceless. When he was 14, he was abandoned to the streets by his mother aner he had failed to graduate from school due to his lack of English competencies. And he was only one of hundreds of children.
Being homeless is dreadful. Living from day to day, trying to survive, being captured in a terrifying situation. How could you possibly find a way out of this vicious cycle? Is there even a way out of it? Here is the point: Shafii wouldn’t be called Gasica nowadays if he hadn’t found his way out of this, he’s a fighter, a Great African Soldier In Completing Ambition.
For more than five months Shafii lived, or better to say, survived on the streets. One day, while Shafii was sleeping on a street, a man approached him, woke him up and offered him his help. He said, “Boy, I can teach you English”. ‘English’, the key to a better life! Shafii has always been a smart and hard-working student, his only problem was the lack of English skills. But now he saw his chance, his only chance. The man taught him English every day, Shafii was always with him and learned incredibly fast. Aner only five months, he started teaching some of his friends and other young people the things he had already learned. He wanted to give back what he was given: The chance for a better life. He also tried to come back to his family but when they
heard he was teaching other people, they kicked him out again because in their opinion it was nothing more than a waste of time. They wanted him to concentrate on his own future, to go back to school and pass the exams. As a punishment Shafii wasn’t even allowed to stay on the streets of the community he came from, he had to move to another community and spent
most nights in an unfinished shed. However, Shafii did not give up and followed his own vision. With the help of the man, he was offered a bedroom, was provided with some food and managed to go back to school again. His English got better and better, he continued teaching other young people, finally passed his exams and successfully graduated from school. What an achievement that was!
THE TWIST
One day, aner his mother heard the news in the radio, in which all the graduates where announced, she managed to find her son and wanted him to come back home. But Gasica said‘no’, aner all that has happened, he did not want to come back. However, aner his mother asked him for help he came with her. He helped her building a house on a property the family had previously bought. Finally, because of everything he had done and because of the fact that she really wanted her son back at home, Shafii’s mum made him an incredible offer. She said, “Son, I give you the property and you can build your school here, so that you can teach your friends, but in return you come back home and live with your family, the place where you belong”. Shafii agreed, his strong and loving personality did not make it hard for him to forgive people, he knew that love within the family would always win.
His initial dream became true: He now had a place where he could teach other people English. This was the beginning of his foundation ‘Zanzibar Learning 4 Life’. Ever since, this place has become a gateway to change for many young people in Zanzibar. It took years until the construction of the house was complete in its entirety, mainly because Shafii had no money at all when he started. But he had a vison and was never alone on his mission. Thanks to his English competencies he could now find jobs. However, it still took him three years of incredibly hard work in order to save enough money. Together with some of his students, he worked part-time in many different jobs. They carried sand from one place to another, they washed cars, worked as cleaners and did everything they could to finally finish the construction of the building. And they made it!
By that time, Shafii not only taught his friends, but also the friends of his friends and then the friends of the friends of his friends and so on and so forth. For them, he was more than a ‘Blessing’, he was and still is their greatest role model, their savior, their Great African Soldier In Completing Ambition. Shafi became Gasica, and Gasica’s mission has basically only just started.
HE NEVER GIVES UP
In 2012, a young woman knocked on his door. She was frightened: Her husband had len her, she had no job and no place to stay. She asked Gasica to take care of her son. Gasica was her only hope and the only person she trusted. The kid had the same name as the man who saved Gasica’s life a few years ago and now Gasica felt it was time to do the same for this wonderful little boy. However, he had no idea how to raise kids and started asking people for help. Eventually, a man told him to go to Dar Es Salaam because there was an organization that could help him. But for that to happen, Gasica first of all had to earn more money and he did what he had always done: Work hard, never give up and believe in yourself. Aner a few months he finally went to the helping organization in Dar Es Salaam and learned how to raise kids. He became the most wonderful father for his son.
In the following years, Gasicas went on doing what he loves: Helping people to reach the step into a better future. His friends and first students became teachers themselves, others helped part-time as volunteers. A ‘dreamteam’ was formed that would always support each other. As the news of the man who gave his all for the life of others spread around Zanzibar and Tanzania,
Gasica received an invition for a meeting in Arusha in 2016 where all the headmasters of the most popular Tanzanian schools met and talked about their projects and future plans. The trip was sponsored by his first supporting organization from abroad, the UK Rotary Club. And what an experience that was for Gasica! He was able to learn so much. He really made the most of his time on the mainland and even did an internship at a school for several weeks. This way, he was able to discover other teaching strategies, learned how school projects were most successfully implemented and extended his social network. All of this really strengthened his desire to reach the next step for his own project.
Despite the fact that Gasica never had the chance to go to university or any other place of higher education, his thoughts and plans have always been extremely future-oriented. Most people in Zanzibar only live from one day to another and it is very hard for them to develop their personal knowledge and improve their way of living. However, that is not because they don’t want to, but because of the lack of access to education. This makes Gascia’s personality even more special: He always thought about tomorrow and knew that he could not only rely on the help of other organizations and donors. He told his team, “We need to do something ourselves and establish a business to finance our foundation”. So, they built a chicken farm but it was only aner a few months that they had to realize they were not really making any profits. Their plan failed. But as always, Gasica did not give up.
He questioned his previous plans and immediately thought about what would be best for the community. “The children need education”, that’s what he finally came up with. So far, he and his team had only taught young people that had never really had access to good education. In short, they had always only made up for the failure of the educational system. But now, Gasica wanted to go ahead and establish a school for the children in his community. So, with the help of his team and donors from all over the world, he bought his own land and started building his own school. In retrospect, he said, “it was hard but we believed in our dream and always helped each other out, so we made it all together”. In Gasica’s eyes they were all heroes and this school belonged to all of them. He called the school ‘Heroes Community Academy’, and everyone - his friends, relatives, the volunteers, the supporters from all over the world, his team members and the students - they all became part of the ‘Heroes Community’ from this day on.
Finally, he and his team started teaching children. They started in 2020 with 39 students and not only provided them with excellent teaching lessons in different subjects but also with a school uniform and food during the lunch break. Today, three years later, 250 students from year 1 to year 4 attend the school and the number is increasing further every month. Children need education!
ZANZIBAR LEARNING 4 LIFE
At the same time, Gasica never stopped doing what his foundation, ‘Zanzibar Learning 4 Life’, was previously known for: He still teaches homeless people and other poor people from his community, who haven’t had the chance for a successful education. Gasica’s caring, his will to help and his love for the people of Zanzibar is evident in everything he does. In the aner noons, when all the kids go home, he plays soccer with the 21 homeless boys he is caring for and teaches them English every single evening. Anerwards, they all have dinner together and he even provides them with a place to sleep: the classrooms of his school. At the same time, Gasica is also caring for his own family. He has three wonderful children and without the support of his loving and hard-working wife, he would definitely not have come so far.
Of course, Gasica could also not have done all of this without his team, which now consists of 23 paid employees and around 20 volunteers. They also opened up a bike shop and a sewing shop, in order to earn some money and become more independent from other donors. Eventually, Gasica not only gives his all for a better future for the children and young people but also offers poor people, and especially women from his community, jobs so that they themselves can stand on their own feet and live a better life. However, without the wonderful donors from all over this world this would not have been possible. Some families are able to pay the school fee of 450€ per year. Others, however, -to be more specific, 50%- cannot afford it and depend on sponsorships. There are currently 18 children who get a sponsorship from families who live abroad. All the others are still waiting for sponsors. Of course, Gasica still makes it possible for them to go to school: “Everyone pays/gives what he/she can. Some people don’t have enough money but then they do other things. They bring spare food, they help growing vegetables in the school garden or help to keep the facilities clean and safe. It is a giving and a taking and everyone gives whatever he/she can do to help the community.
That is why we are so successful all together!”.
HEROES COMMUNITY ACADEMY
In 2022, the ‘Heroes Community Academy’ made another tremendous step in the school’s development: Aner having received a special donation, they were able to buy a new land next to the school and they are planning to expand the school further in the future. Besides, they have more space to grow their vegetables in order to make sure to have enough food for everyone. Also, they built another school building on the land they already own to be able to expand the school from 4 to 5 grades, as the eldest students will have finished year 4 next year. It meant a lot of hard work to build the new classrooms, but it was very successful: The Heroes Community Academy now has two new rooms, a classroom and a computer room.
Everyone who knows the ‘Heroes Community’ can be sure: With their unbreakable hearts and team spirit, they will make it!
GASICARE
A very big dream for Gasica and his team then came true at the end of 2022. They started a new project for disabled children. Something that had never existed before in this form in Zanzibar. The project was named ‘GasiCare’ and has been filling the hearts of the children and the staff for more than half a year now. 8 disabled children are cared for 10 hours a day and finally
they experience love and devotion. Before, it looked different in their daily lives. Children with disabilities are mostly without a chance for a future. Fathers onen leave their wives and families when a disabled child is born. The mother is then len all alone, she has to earn money somehow and take care of the children. An almost impossible task, which is why many of the children
are locked up at home all day while the mother works because there is no one to look aner them. Thanks to GasiCare, however, the mothers now have time to earn enough money while their children enjoy the life at GasiCare. There is play, laughter and lots of fun. GasiCare inspires and opens a path to a better future for the children.
This story shows that a man who had nothing, always followed his heart and never stopped dreaming. He certainly made his dream come true but he also knows that this is not the end of his mission. He is the Great African Soldier in Completing Ambition, but his mission will never end: Offering education, the key to a better live, and embracing poor people and children with care and love.
Thank you for everything, Gasica!
