Zanzibar natives Sakina Alawy and Daudi Muhamed are happy at their home-away-from-home, South Carolina State University.

“It’s a positive experience. I got to learn about different cultures,” said Alawy, a freshman biology major.

Alawy and Muhamed were the recipients of two scholarships granted to Zanzibar students to attend S.C. State.

Alawy said the friends she has met here have been like family and that she loves the environment at S.C. State.

She did note some climate differences between her home in Zanzibar and her new home at the university.

Alawy said the temperature is different, noting that winter was particularly rough because she was not accustomed to the cold weather. The lowest recorded temperature in Zanzibar’s history is 66 degrees.

Muhamed concurred that the change was an adjustment.

“The summer is so hot,” he said of the South Carolina weather.

Earlier this year, S.C. State officials visited the African island nation of Zanzibar to present its government with biology textbooks and learning materials for high school students.

S.C. State assembled a team to write the textbooks when the university was awarded a grant from President Bush’s African Education Initiative, which aims to expand the academic opportunities of African students.

S.C. State is also writing textbooks in math, physics and chemistry for Zanzibar’s schools.

Muhamed recalled that during his very recent high school experience in Zanzibar, he once used a textbook from the 1950s. He pointed out that the textbooks in Zanzibar’s schools could not cover everything on the course syllabus.

In high school, Alawy said she had to use up to five textbooks, all from different countries, to cover the material for a given subject.

Both Alawy and Muhamed were very appreciative to see that future generations will be able to study without the complications they experienced.

“It increases the standard of education. That is a great thing,” Alawy said.

Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume was so grateful that he agreed to be the speaker for S.C. State’s May 9 commencement exercises.

“We are excited. We’re happy our president is coming to show his appreciation to the university for delivering textbooks,” said Alawy of Karume’s visit.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5544. Follow the president’s visit in The T&D and at TheTandD.com.

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