Bertha Akim was a member of the Nyakyusa tribe of Tanganyika and born in Tukuyu, now in Tanzania. She was a certificate student in 1957 at Mount Holyoke. Akim studied at schools at home until reaching secondary school and then studied in Uganda, as no schools in her home country were available to women at that level. Akim studied education at Makerere College, where she was chair of the Women’s Hall and then taught at a girls’ school. Additionally, she worked with social welfare officers and received the Practical Child Welfare Certificate before winning a scholarship to study at Mount Holyoke College. The scholarship was funded by a win from the College Quiz Bowl team. She worked at the Gorse Children’s Center during her time at Mount Holyoke and hoped to start a nursery school in Tanganyika, now in Tanzania.
While in the United States, Akim introduced children to African stories and folktales, as well as exposing adults to informed perspectives on African politics and culture. After returning to Tanganyika, she worked at several teaching colleges before becoming headmistress of the Bwiru Girls’ School in Mwanza, now in Tanzania. She was elected to the legislative council of Tanganyika and executive secretary of the Umoja Wa Wanawake Wa Tanzania women’s organization.
