Leaving behind a husband and three children to pursue her education in America, Swahili Teaching Assistant Mary Okeyo is raising money to bring her husband from Tanzania to her graduation at NIU.

Miki Grace, president of Delta Sigma Theta, began a GoFundMe page to raise money for Okeyo’s husband, John, to attend her May graduation. As of April 20, 23 donations have raised $545. The goal is $2,000.

“I want [John] to see where I’m getting my master’s degree,” Okeyo said.

When she was 11 years old, Okeyo was captivated by the beauty and intelligent appearance of the pleated school uniforms Tanzanian city girls wore.

Since then, the teacher was inspired to get an education in Tanzania where gender inequality is enforced through traditions like female genital mutilation, male prioritized education and polygamous marriages at age 15, Okeyo said.

The teacher was able to get an education in the rural area of Mara, which shares a border with Kenya, because her mother worked eight hours a day making locally brewed alcohol to pay for her and her sister to go to school. She earned her bachelor’s degree at St. Augustine University of Tanzania.

Okeyo was offered a job in 2011 at NIU teaching Swahili through the Tanzania Development Support group led by Kurt Thurmaier, presidential engagement professor and chair of the department of Public Administration.

The Tanzania Development Support’s mission is to improve the quality of life for females and youth in the Mara region through community development, according to the Tanzania Development Support’s website.

Okeyo is earning her master’s degree in Adult and Higher Education with an emphasis in community development at NIU.

“I have been able to read different books [at NIU],” Okeyo said. “In Tanzania, I was dependent on the notes on the board. Now, I’ve attended conferences, watched videos… .”

With her graduation coming up, Okeyo will return to Tanzania after earning her degree in order to help young girls in rural areas learn what they are capable of.

“[Tanzanian girls] don’t know what they don’t know at this point,” Okeyo said.

The teacher said she will begin a social group for women to create a sense of community and empowerment for the women of Tanzania.

She wants to educate the females of Tanzania in sexual independence, financial literacy and health.

Okeyo plans to begin an organization called Female Empowerment in Business and Entrepreneurship that would teach Tanzanian women how to start small businesses.