A young girl grows up in a community full of HIV/AIDS, her only hope is that she can finish school and have a successful future. Living in a small house, and having to work at a young age in order for her family to afford education, winning the “Children’s Peace Prize” seemed impossible. Adoring her days at school suddenly realizing that it was going to be taken away from her. This is Thandiwe Chama the girl that brought education back into her community. She stood up for both her and her fellow 60 schoolmates, she also went to the government officials to try and get them to build her community a new school so that they had shelter from the hot sun and the rain. At only 8 years old having her school shutdown, and living in Zambia flowing with HIV/AIDS, Thandiwe fought for the right to education and for people to take action and fight along side her to make her community a safer and more educational place to live.
Thandiwe is fighting for the right of education and for people to realize that it is the key for a successful future. There are two types of education needed in Thandiwe's community, regular education that can help you get into college and get a job, and education on how to prevent catching HIV/AIDS. When Thandiwe was only 8 years old her school was shut down due to lack of teachers. Thandiwe did not accept the fact that she had no education, and decided she was going to stand up for herself by going to the government and demanding education for her and her fellow 60 classmates. Thandiwe and her schoolmates learned out in the hot sun all day, so Thandiwe went to the government official to plead for a new building where students could learn in the shade, and have shelter through the bad weather. The government listened and Thandiwe was granted a new school where both her and her schoolmates could learn. Thandiwe had terrible personal experiences in her community with HIV/AIDS and she knew how important it was to keep yourself sanitized to stay away from those diseases. HIVS/AIDS can be spread through sexual intercourse or sharing needles for injections of drugs or steroids. Children need the education in order to help prevent them from catching HIV/AIDS and Thandiwe knew that. Thandiwe knows that education is the key to a successful future. Without a good education, there is very little chance of a successful future. She wanted the best for both herself and the people in her community, so she fought long and hard for her community to be granted the gift of education.
Thandiwe knows that she can’t go through this fight all on her own, and that she is going to need people to take action and fight along with her. Thandiwe rallied with her community so that the government would provide more land for more classrooms. She organized this rally, and made sure she had enough supporters for it to be successful. Once Thandiwe won the “Children’s Peace Prize” in 2007, she started getting noticed by a lot more people, and was able to interview big stars like BONO. People decided they were going to help her, and after Thandiwe gave her speech during the “Children’s Peace Prize Ceremony” she was granted a library. The library was called “Thandiwe’s Library” and it was placed in the middle of her community so that all her people could have access to it. She knew that she couldn’t win this fight if she was fighting it herself. Thandiwe knew how important it was for people to take action with her, after she won her award she made sure everyone knew about her.
A young girl growing up in a small town in Zambia, the right to education being taken away from her and her schoolmates, very little education on how to prevent HIV/AIDS, and a very slim chance of succeeding in her future. Thandiwe fought for 9 years, for the right of education and for people to take action along the way before she became successful and won the ‘Children’s Peace Prize’ in 2007. Thandiwe was successful throughout her journey on trying to make her community a better place for both her and her fellow people, and was recognized for that by being given the ‘Children’s Peace Prize’ award of 2007. Thandiwe was absolutely delighted with her accomplishment, and so was her country. She made her community proud as it is now a better place to live in, full of education and more awareness on how to prevent HIV/AIDS.
