Another ‘come to the rescue’ story for The Meserani Project.

In 2007 Claire Lancefield went on a three-week tour of Kenya and Tanzania with Acklam Grange School. Claire is a former Head Girl at Acklam Grange, who is now working as a solicitor for a law firm in Nottingham. As a result of her experiences on the school trip she returned to Tanzania in 2008 to work in Arusha at a primary school. During her time in Arusha she met a student called Ally Salmini Mrock – Ally was an orphan, having lost both his parents, and was being brought up by his grandmother. In 2002 he broke his right leg, and because he did not have the money to pay hospital fees he had to rely on ‘traditional’ treatment at home. He was left with a physical disability which prevented him from doing any manual work.

Ally was placed in an orphanage, and it was here that he managed to find sponsorship to
attend secondary school and undertake a Diploma Course at Tumaini College in Arusha. Ally then gained selection to university to study a degree course in Business & Marketing, but for his final year (2017/2018) he was not able to find the necessary sponsorship. This is where Claire stepped in – after finding out that Ally could not complete his degree course, she contacted The Meserani Project and a ‘Crowdfunding’ page was set up where Claire’s friends, colleagues and relatives donated enough money for Ally to complete his university degree.

Claire’s involvement in all this has been a life-changing set of circumstances for Ally – his physical disability prevents him from doing any form of manual work, so his only possibility of gaining employment is through office/administration work – and the only way to pursue this is through academic qualifications.

Ally has now started his final year at university, and we wish him well in his studies – he is a remarkable young man who has overcome extreme challenges through persistence and ambition, but he has also been extremely lucky to have known Claire.