Momo Zheng, B.A., M.A, Social Media Specialist

Momo was born in China. At the urging of her parents, she studied finance at Xiamen University in Fujian Province of South China. At the completion of her BA, she applied for an MA program in France and was accepted. During her program in France, she came to the University of California, Berkeley, as an exchange student. In Berkeley, she met and married her husband, a graduate student in bioengineering, much to the chagrin of both of their families. Momo went to the Netherlands to complete an internship with a trading company where she concluded that she was not truly interested in finance and international trading. She returned to Berkeley where she audited classes in Hindi so that she could speak with her in-laws and journalism. The marriage was finally accepted by their families 5 years later. Momo and her husband traveled to India and China in the next two years to have traditional marriage ceremonies signifying their families’ acceptance.

Momo met Dorothy when she delivered her first child at Alta Bates Hospital in 2014. During postnatal care, she heard how Dorothy was committed to assisting her village in Tanzania. Her strong impression was that Dorothy, working alone, was vulnerable, hard-working and needed help. Momo felt that if she could do a little to assist Dorothy’s commitment to improving the health of the mothers and babies of her village, it would satisfy one of her own needs to make a small contribution to the poor people of the world. (Having traveled through China and India she felt that she had an intimate knowledge of poverty out of which arose her commitment to making a difference.)

Through Momo’s audit of journalism and technology classes, she learned to construct websites and write brochures and used those skills for Tajenda Moisha. She also organized a silent auction to raise funds. Momo wants to see Dorothy’s dreams come true so the women and children of Narumu village in Tanzania will flourish with improved health and dignity.