LAKE STEVENS — Hudhaifat Hamdan has been collecting souvenirs during her time in the United States.
They’re not the typical trinkets and baubles people amass on adventures abroad. The most important treasures she’s taking home are ideas.
The 18-year-old exchange student from Zanzibar hopes to start volunteer programs in her country’s schools and introduce food drives and food banks, something her island community lacks. She also aims to start a recycling program. Eventually, Hamdan plans to become a doctor.
Zanzibar is an island off the east coast of Africa, part of the mainland country of Tanzania. The scenery is beautiful and people are welcoming, said Hamdan, who goes by Ifa here. Most people in the U.S. struggle to pronounce her full name, but that doesn’t bother her. She’s not easy to offend, she said. This is a time to learn.
“Before I came here, because the culture in my country mostly is Islamic and here most people are Christian, some people say, ‘Don’t come. They’ll change you,’” Hamdan said.
Instead, she found opportunities to experience a new culture and share her own. She’s learned to set aside stereotypes and be brave.
“Speak up and no one can offend you,” Hamdan said. “You have to speak up and say what challenges you. You have to speak to your friends and tell them about your culture.”
She explains to people that she doesn’t eat pork for religious reasons and that pet dogs frighten her. Zanzibar has dangerous guard dogs and police dogs.
“I get some questions — I don’t know if I can say weird — but people ask if you can use the phone, if you wear clothes, if you live in a desert, if you have a computer at home,” Hamdan said.
She needed help mastering some technology at school, but Hamdan uses phones, wears comfortable clothes and grew up in a lively island community.
“If you want to ask about my culture or you want to talk about my religion, I’m so open,” Hamdan said. “I have to explain, my country is a peace country.”
Financial, academic and medical requirements to study abroad can be daunting. Hundreds of Zanzibari students sought scholarships with Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES). Hamdan was one of 18 selected.
She takes advanced classes at Lake Stevens High School and volunteers several days a week, mostly with the Lake Stevens Community Food Bank and Li’l Hungry Hearts, a program that collects food for children in low-income families.
Hamdan, like other high-schoolers, needed 45 hours of community service to graduate.
She’s done more than 150, host mom Kari Lineaweaver said.
She describes Hamdan as well-spoken and loving. Though the two were unsure what to expect at first, they get along well.
“I just wish that people would take the opportunity to stop and make a difference in someone else’s life because you never know what they might have to offer or teach you,” Lineaweaver said.
Mitch Robinson, president of the food bank, calls Hamdan a rock star.
“She is going to be a doctor someday in her country, and I’m so proud of that,” he said.
Hamdan also has helped with Toys for Tots, Ready for Kindergarten, Relay for Life and the high school’s Key Club.
The idea of volunteering as part of school was new to her, as were food banks. People help each other in Zanzibar, but families in need don’t always get enough supplies. She wants to organize drives and open a food bank modeled after her experiences in Lake Stevens. She also hopes to convince teachers that volunteering should be part of the curriculum.
“Our country is difficult and most of the people are poor,” Hamdan said. “No one can come from other countries and change it. We are the change.”
Hamdan also wants to start recycling programs in schools. Though not unheard of, recycling isn’t widely taught in Tanzania.
Hamdan returns home in June. She has to take national exams but hopes to come back to the U.S. for medical school.
She’s one of six siblings. Her mother is a teacher and her father is the minister of Education and Vocational Training for Zanzibar. Her siblings have studied medicine, business and science.
Hamdan learned a lot about the world and herself this year, she said. She traveled halfway around the world nine months ago, worried about the security, culture and expectations of her new home.
“Now I don’t scare about security. I don’t scare about anything,” Hamdan said. “I can have confidence and do everything myself. I’m so proud of this experience.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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