Tololwa M. Mollel: Hi, my name is Tololwa M. Mollel. I had a different name before, but I gave myself this name in honor of my great, great grandfather. Tololwa is also the name of a stream, close to where my grandparents lived, and where I went to school. Seven years ago, I went back to Tanzania, and I went to all my old places, including that primary school that I attended, grade three and four. And I introduced myself to the students in that school, because I wanted to talk a little bit about how things were when I went there.

I told them my name was Tololwa, and they all burst out laughing. Tololwa? Ha ha ha ha! They laughed, Tololwa, ha ha! They looked at each other, "That's the name of the river. Tololwa. Ha ha ha ha ha." They laughed. And I said, "Yes, my name is Tololwa, and I'm very famous. They named the river after me." And they half believed me, until I told them, "No, I am just kidding." But I wanted to get back at them for laughing at me.

My last name, surname, is Mollel. It used to be a longer name, Mollelianni, almost like an Italian. And somebody thought of cutting it short to Mollel, and now, that's what I ended up with.