Investing in the Future of a Nation: The Journey of Dr. Maria Josephine Kasindi Kamm ’63
By BARBARA ALLISON
Dr. Maria Josephine Kasindi Kamm ’63 is inarguably the mother of modern education in Tanzania. Affectionately known as “Mama Kamm,” she is an internationally renowned educator, philanthropist, politician, and role model for empowered women. Through her commitment to educating generations of Tanzanian women and girls, Mama Kamm has shaped the lives of thousands of students, changing the face of modern Tanzania. Many of these women are now doctors, lawyers, educators, scientists, and entrepreneurs.
At age 88, her resolve is not slowing down.
“An educated woman transforms everything around her,” she said recently from her home in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, a region she has lived in for six decades. “She gains confidence, independence, and the ability to make informed decisions. She raises children who value education and opportunity. When you educate a woman, you are investing in the future of a nation.”
Last year, Mama Kamm was named one of the nine African women powering a continental educational revolution by Leading Ladies of Africa. She was also named Tanzania’s Woman of the Year in 2014, and in 2012, the National Institute for Medical Research at the University of Dar es Salaam established the Dr. Maria Kamm Best Female Scientist Award, inspiring the next generation of Tanzanian women in STEM.
Her extraordinary life, one that has more than once intersected with Saint Mary’s College, is an inspiration. Born in June 1937 in rural Iringa, Tanganyika (a former sovereign state comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania that existed from 1961 until 1964), Mama Kamm’s early years unfolded in a society in which the education of girls was rarely prioritized. She bucked the trend, earning her Bachelor of Arts in History at Saint Mary’s in 1963. She went on to obtain her master’s degree in Education from Syracuse University in 1965. In June 1970 she married Dr. Georg Kamm, a German medical doctor, who passed away in 2023. The couple have two sons and a daughter.
“My time at Saint Mary’s College was transformative,” Mama Kamm said. “Coming from Tanganyika, I was suddenly immersed in a global community. I was suddenly living and learning alongside women from Trinidad, Ghana, and the United States.”
She also witnessed first-hand the widespread societal changes happening in the United States with the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements. “These experiences helped me understand the power of education as a tool for equality and social change,” Mama Kamm said. “When I returned home, I carried that conviction with me—that women, regardless of background, deserve access to quality education and the opportunity to lead.”
Upon her return to Tanzania in the mid 1960s, education was moving away from the colonial governmental and educational system to more sustainable, meaningful models. Guided by former President Julius Nyerere’s philosophy of Education for Self Reliance, Mama Kamm designed a model of education focused on critical thinking over rote learning, promoting cooperative values, and integrating practical, hands-on techniques such as farming into the curriculum. That model has evolved to grow with the needs of the time.
Mama Kamm began her career as a secondary school teacher and headmistress of the Machame Girls Secondary School, where she taught and led until 1970. She then became headmistress at the Weruweru Secondary School in the Kilimanjaro region, a post she held until 1992. She served as a member of Tanzanian Parliament, and was a delegate from Tanzania to the United Nations, serving on the Task Force for Africans, and on several international committees championing women’s rights.
At a time when pregnant women and girls were kicked out of school after delivering their babies, Mama Kamm took the risk to educate them. She purchased land adjacent to the Weruweru Secondary School and built the Kilimanjaro Academy. In this safe space, pregnant and post-partum students could continue their education and sit for their exams. If discovered, she could have lost her job. When asked why she took the risk, she replied: “What if she was your child?”
When you educate a woman, you are investing in the future of a nation. Seeing them grow into confident, capable leaders is what I value most—it is why I dedicated my life to education.
- Dr. Maria Josephine Kasindi Kamm ’63
“When I became an educator, I saw that pregnant girls were being removed from the government school system permanently,” Mama Kamm said. “Once their names were crossed off the register, they had no path back to education. I could not accept that. Education should not be denied because of one life circumstance.” She said that this reality is what pushed her to create spaces, including the Mama Clementina Foundation, where girls could continue their education and build their futures. “It was not just a professional decision; it was a moral one,” she said.
Today, the Mama Clementina Foundation, a non-profit trust founded in 1988 dedicated to advancing education and alleviating poverty among girls and women, has four schools offering secondary and vocational education in Kilimanjaro, Njombe, and Iringa. As of 2025, over 2,700 students have earned certificates in fields such as hotel management, tailoring, information and communication technology, and culinary arts.
“Vocational education brings learning to life,” Mama Kamm said. “It connects classroom theory with practical, real-world experience. This approach was central to Tanzania’s policy of Education for Self-Reliance, which I helped implement. In my country, vocational education is inclusive to all. Some of my students are incredible at tailoring. Some are fantastic bakers. Others thrive in hotel management. By integrating theory and practice, education becomes more inclusive, relevant, and empowering.”
For her lifelong commitment to empowering women, Saint Mary’s bestowed Mama Kamm with an Honorary Doctorate of Education in 1997. In 2023, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award by the Alumnae Association Board of Trustees.
Mama Kamm’s son Christian notes that the Mama Clementina Foundation’s mission of education and empowerment align with the missions of both Saint Mary’s College and the University of Notre Dame. The Kamm family has deep ties to the tri-campus community. Christian’s wife attended Notre Dame, and three of the couple’s four children have attended Notre Dame.
Recently, Christian attended a Mass with the bishop at the Basilica of Notre Dame. “It’s quite incredible to think that almost 70 years ago, my mother may have been in that very same place. It brought her story to life for me in a new way,” he said.
Of her time at Saint Mary’s, Mama Kamm remembers rising to the academic rigor instilled in her by History professor Anthony Black. “He pushed me to think critically and aim high,” she recalled. Her day-to-day life at the College was also formative. She learned about presenting herself by dressing formally for meals, reinforcing dignity and confidence. Mama Kamm also enjoyed attending Notre Dame football games, and honed her public speaking skills through opportunities to address the Rotary Club of Chicago during her senior year.
Before experiential learning was a term widely used in higher education, she took advantage of several such opportunities while at Saint Mary’s. For example, Mama Kamm flew on Air Force One with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. to Tanganyika to celebrate the region’s independence from colonial rule in 1961. “It was a moment of great pride for my country and for me personally,” Mama Kamm said. “Saint Mary’s also opened doors academically, helping me secure a Fulbright Scholarship through the support of the Maryknoll Sisters. These experiences prepared me for the leadership and for the responsibilities I would later carry in Tanzania.”
Though she can no longer travel extensively, and is slowing down in her work, Mama Kamm remains as invested in ensuring the future of women as ever before. One of her former students, Asha-Rose Migiro, served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2007 until 2012. “Seeing them grow into confident, capable leaders is what I value most—it is why I dedicated my life to education. Education is wealth that cannot be stolen.”
Last November, Mama Kamm received an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of Dar es Salaam, recognizing her achievement in transforming education across Tanzania. The award recognizes her devotion to uplifting schooling and mentoring generations of young women and girls, and in shaping a national educational model grounded in self-reliance.
May 12, 2026