Congratulations to our students!

Fatima al-Fihri is not a household name. She was born in Tunisia sometime in the early 9th century and moved to Morocco with her father, a successful businessman at the time. When he passed away, she inherited his substantial wealth, and wanted to build something that gave back to her community. She invested it into building what went on to become the University of al-Qarawiyyin, named after her birthplace in Tunisia. According to UNESCO, this was the first degree-granting educational institution in the world. People traveled quite a distance to study there across a number of disciplines from astronomy to science to religion.

Because this took place so long ago (9th century!), it’s hard to confirm exact records and times, but it is thought that a number of scholars studied here, especially in the medieval ages. Pope Sylvester II is told to have studied there, and is known for bringing the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to Europe. The University remains in operation today and holds the world’s oldest library with over 4,000 manuscripts. Al-Fahri’s mission to foster educational growth and intellectual advancement continues today – and the library’s most prized possession is her original diploma on a wooden board.

Why am I telling you about Fatima al-Fihri?  Well, today was the last day of school for the 2021 academic year for our students in Zambia – and so I thought it fit to honor someone who helped create the first university. As Fatima al-Fihri helped pave the way for students all of over the world, we are so honored to be able to do this work in rural Zambia. We congratulate our class of 2021 and all of our Impact Network students on completing this challenging school year!

-Reshma