This program will teach vital leadership and practical life skills to indigenous school-aged girls in the high Andes. Quechua girls face great barriers to education and eventually, economic success. Rural communities suffer when women aren't equipped to lead. This project builds empowered girls into community leaders, and equips them with the personal skills to create their own success.
Women who speak an indigenous first language are the poorest and most marginalized demographic in Peru, with the greatest barriers to basic services and financial independence. Quechua girls in rural communities face limited educational opportunities, early childbearing and economic exclusion. Awamaki offers income-generating opportunities to women's artisan cooperatives, but these opportunities are limited by lack of education and leadership experience among the women.
This project will start with a handful of school-aged girls from one community. Girls will learn financial literacy, reproductive health, leadership skills and women's empowerment. The project will teach the girls what they need for financial and personal independence; it will also teach them skills to run the women's cooperative and sustainable tourism programs in their community that Awamaki currently manages. This ensures income for their future and active leadership within their communities
We believe that through learning these girls will create a better future. Girls will not only acquire the skills they need to be leaders in their community, but they will be pioneering new opportunities for themselves and other women to succeed in a changing modern economy. By investing in these girls' potential now, Awamaki ensures a sustainable income for Quechua women far into the future.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
