A student and her mattress

When is the last time you were ecstatic about something? Not just happy, but truly and joyously excited? Was it your baby being born or your wedding day or a new job? Maybe it was the first time you realized you loved your girlfriend or when you got your first car.

For Devotha, who is one of our Right2School scholarship recipients, it was about getting her very own mattress. You see, she had never owned one before. Somehow throughout the close to twenty years of her life she never had the luxury of sleeping on her very own mattress. At school she even slept with another female student. That's three inches of foam measuring about three feet wide by 6 feet long. And yes, for two young adults. A mattress is one of the belongings that she will take with her to secondary school, where she will live, sleep, and study for the next few years. I remember the vision of students off on their way to school on the public taxis. Many were carrying rolled up mattresses with their suitcases, ready for a new year and to study hard. It is such a sight to see...young adults, waiting to make a difference in their developing country, on the way to what a large majority of children will never get a chance to see, a classroom.

Devotha wants to be a physics professor in University. She said last year she had many worries about not having school fees. Many times she had to leave around exam time which made it difficult to score well. She said "This year I will do very well, I have no worries". Like many of our scholarship recipients, Devotha comes from an orphan led family. Her older sister is taking care of all the brothers and sisters. Her older sister also became a widow in 2004 losing her husband as a soldier in the Sudan.

For Devotha this year is a year of hope and promise as she will begin school and work hard to change the cycle of poverty in her life. It's a dream come true for her, and now she will dream even easier, with her very own mattress.