BACKGROUND

I’m Kerumboti Lukumay. I’m the third born out of eight children in my family. My father has two wives, so it is a polygamy family where the younger wife has five children. I grew up in the Arusha region where I used to help my parents to take care of the cattle and cultivating crops like maize and beans. After primary school, I was selected to join a local government school, but my parents couldn’t pay for my studies because there was two of us in the family that was selected to the secondary school and our economic situation wasn’t good enough. Luckily, I got a sponsorship for my secondary education from a school called The School of St Jude, which provides free education to children from disadvantaged families in Arusha. Currently I’m at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College studying doctor of medicine.

My dream job is to become a dermatologist, a specialist in skin diseases. I have chosen to study medicine so I can help the Tanzanian community. My aim with becoming a dermatologist is to help the government and individuals in providing education to the society about albinism, chronic skin diseases and eradicate bad myths and negative perceptions that is prevailing in some African communities, particularly in Tanzania about albinism.

INTERESTS

Besides my studies, I like to sing in a choir and visit orphanage centres in my area. I also like to watch and play football.