SEGA Teacher Spotlight: Pauline Rusisye

Pauline Rusisye is the Education for Life (ELF) Coordinator & School Counselor at SEGA. If you talk to Pauline, you will immediately feel her deep emotional commitment to her work, the girls she serves, and for SEGA, where she has been since January 2011. When asked what people should know about her, she says “I am passionate and a little bit tough. I love to see things happen fairly. I love most and I smile a lot.”

Pauline oversees the entire ELF program which includes supporting current SEGA students and SEGA graduates. For girls at SEGA, Pauline makes sure they receive one on one counselling and group psychosocial support to help them in their personal development. Through ELF, students develop self-awareness, communication and leadership skills through individual counseling, classroom-based learning about sexual reproductive health, and community outreach activities, in addition to career counseling, which prepares students for transition from secondary school to continued education or to business employment or self-employment.

For graduates, she continues to provide career guidance, coordinates internships and makes sure all the girls report in their respective colleges, A-levels and universities. Visiting the graduates and offering counseling has been the biggest part of the program.

One of Pauline's favorite parts of her job are the home visits. She feels even more bonded to the SEGA students when she learns about their background and meets their parents and does trainings with them. She can see how proud and good the SEGA girls feel about themselves. And when she returns to campus she is greeted with hugs, joyful smiles and beautiful eyes that let her know she is making a difference. Pauline loves showing her eleven-year-old daughter Milka what a special place SEGA is and brings her to every event so Milka can see the meaning behind her work.

“Counseling is very important for the girls and for me. I develop a special bond with my girls and get to help and support them because I get to see what others can't see, and I get to understand what others don’t. I am the person the girls can turn to when nobody understands them. And when you get to know and understand their situation, these girls get stuck in your blood vessels and you just can't stop thinking of them, they just become part of you.”

Pauline’s drive to become a counselor was shaped largely by her time working with refugees in the northern part of Tanzania from 2002-2005. “I saw, how traumatized, stressful, and hopeless the refugees were, and saw the maltreatment refugees got from some staff who had never done counselling, I just thought I need to do something to give a room to these people, I just saw, how badly they needed someone to hear about their story, their eyes when they looked at me, I just felt, I should be the one hearing and consoling their broken soul.” So Pauline went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Counseling and Psychology in 2009 from Tumaini University. She learned about many groups who needed her help and when she heard about SEGA she felt a calling, even though she would be far away from her family in Kibaha.

“I would love for people around the world to know how important SEGA is to the life of these girls. It is a paradise to them.” Pauline says SEGA is a transformation zone, where the girls feel dignity and worth. It is a harmonious place for peace of mind, the teachers, and the girls.

When the girls were allowed to return to SEGA after the government closed all schools because of COVID-19, Pauline said the students were so grateful to be back in a safe place. She was able to contact the girls while they were at home and learned about the many challenges they had to face. Back on campus, Pauline organized trainings to talk about how to persevere and improve despite hardships and about traumatic experiences and its effects.

Reflecting on a decade of working at SEGA, Pauline expressed her gratitude to Polly and Nurturing Minds for nurturing her and for the opportunity to be part of the lives of these special girls. “For my babies/my girls/the graduates, I hope to see them all over Tanzania and the world, having extraordinary brands, becoming strong women in the world, carrying the SEGA flag to all their offices, and in Tanzania, having their own NGOs, presenting themselves as changed women who will help many.”

She has seen herself grow alongside the girls and SEGA, which has expanded so much in the last ten years. Her wish is for SEGA to have more programs that can accommodate the girls, like opportunities for them to start something or create something that enables them to share their talents and give back to SEGA through their creativity. “For the girls, I wish they come up with a center or a program that they can be proud of in honoring SEGA, like starting a foster family program that will accommodate most vulnerable girls who do not feel safe at home. My hope for SEGA is to see it grow and be well-known across Tanzania and outside of Tanzania. I feel so special to be part of this place.”

Thank you, Pauline, we are so lucky to have you at SEGA and appreciate all that you do!

Pauline and her family