Education Tanzania, United Republic of Project #14093

Send 35 Girls in Tanzania to Secondary School

by Girls Education International

Send 35 Girls in Tanzania to Secondary School

Project Report | Mar 4, 2016
Update: International Women's Day is March 8th!

By Rai Farrelly | Girls Ed, Executive Director

Adija

Dear Girls Ed Supporters,

We are happy to join millions around the world to acknowledge and celebrate International Women's Day, which is March 8th. Communities everywhere will be honoring women in various ways - dance, song, flowers, gifts, music, poetry, food and more!

What we have to celebrate is you! Thank You for supporting us as we stay true to our mission to support girls in Pakistan, Tanzania and Liberia as they pursue their educational goals.

We also celebrate our students for their efforts to stay in school and do their best, despite the many obstacles they face - lack of books, distance to school, hunger, housework, and resistance from some community members.

This year's theme for International Women's Day is Pledge for Parity! Shockingly, the World Economic Forum has predicted that the gender gap will not be closed until 2133. That seems unfathomable, as it's over 100 years away - well beyond our lifetimes. Nonetheless, this year - to celebrate International Women's Day - let us all recognize the goal of gender equality and do what we can to close the gender gap in education, politics, business, and access to healthcare. Even if change comes at a 'glacial pace' - we do our part. (Read more about International Women's Day here.)

One mission toward that end is to ensure that more and more girls have equal access to quality education. For our March update, we're happy to share with you an interview with our student Adija. Her points below speak directly to the disparity between boys and girls when it comes to access to education. As we often hear from our girl students, the responsibilities of the girl child in Tanzania are greater than those of the boy - they clean, fetch water, help with siblings, cook, and more. All of this interferes with study time and the ability to simply focus on being successful in school.

But enough from us - let's hear it in Adija's own words:

How are you doing in school? What do you do outside of school to make sure you get good grades? After ring the bell, l am enter to the assembly. After assembly, I enter in the class. If teacher is not in the class, I am taking my exercise book and I am starting to study. If teacher is enter, I stop to study. When I come from school I arrive home. I am eating; after finish I help my parent with some activities, then I play 30 minutes and I continue to study. When I finish, I am taking food, then I am going to sleep. I wake up 5:00 o’clock to study again up to the morning, then I am going to school.

Do you like school? Yes, because it is a key of my life and I like to study hard in order to get a job like nurse, teacher, or traffic police officer.

Do you think studying as a girl is different from studying as a boy? Why? Yes, because the boy does not work a lot like the girl. The girl is working many more jobs than the boy, like to wash tools, to cook, to clean house, to carry water. The boy 100% they don’t do that job.

What advice would you give to a girl who wants to quit school? I will tell that girl it is better to study in order to get a job. It is bad to go around to the street; some time we got a problem. If you study well you must enjoy the life like Anna Makinda, but if you don’t study the people must see your ignorance.

What would you like to do after secondary school? I like to continue my education. After complete my high education, I want to be a nurse or teacher or work in parliament like Anna Makinda.

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We love Adija's hopefulness and ambition. She is inspired by sister Tanzanian, Anna Makinda who was the first female Speaker of the National Assembly in the Tanzanian government. We always tell our students - Aim high! Try hard! Anything is possible if you just believe.

If you believe it, too, then please consider chipping in so that we can continue to support the girls in our program! (Click 'give now' below.) Now that the government has alleviated secondary school fees, we are finally able to invest our support where it is truly needed the most - tutoring, textbooks, and test prep. Let's get these girls into high school first, and then university! We believe.

You can also help by sharing our updates and mentioning our work to friends. Sharing is caring. (FB and Twitter buttons below make sharing easy!)

With immense gratitude,

The Girls Ed Team & the Girls Ed students

Anna Makinda - Speaker of National Assembly

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Dec 8, 2015
Year End Update from Girls Ed Tanzania

By Rai Farrelly | Girls Ed, Executive Director

Safi

Happy Holidays to all of our Girls Ed Supporters!

In this update, we're happy to share the words of one of our students. The report is late because our Tanzania project manager, Lucas had a big job of conducting interviews with our scholarship students. As he doesn't live in the village, he had to get there and then round up the students - which he actually does with surprising ease.

A Day in the Life of Lucas: Usually he starts calling people he knows in the village who have cell phones - Ashahadu, Jane, teachers, other students. He relays a message that particular students should be at a certain place (Jane's house, the school) at a certain time. Then, he travels in from town and has his meetings. I'm often amazed at the turnout, given that many of the students have to walk a fair distance to meet him.

This time, his efforts paid off! He collected several interviews from the students, then he typed them and emailed them to me. He is definitly a hard worker and he is so committed to our work! (His computer training really paid off!)

I'll spread them out over time so you can really enjoy them. Also, I'm not going to edit these much so that you can appreciate that these are Tanzanian children, living in a village in rural Tanzania - telling you about themselves in English - their second (and in some cases third) language. And - English language instrution in the elementary grades in village schools is not entirely effective. So - for these Form 1 students, these words are truly to be treasured!

Today, I'll share an interview with our Form 1 student, Safi who attends Amahoro Secondary School in Mgaraganza.

From Safi:

How are you doing in school? When I am attend at school, I am writing, I am reading together and to do some different activities at school, like to sweep, to clean toilet, and to cutting grass. I am attending at school every day and teacher teaching good. And me I am study hard.

I am going out of class and to sit because have not money for buy tea. I am sit and to play my friend who have not a money. Some students who are, drink tea.

What do you do outside of school to make sure you get good grades? From school time is three, and I am attend at home time 4 o’clock. I am start eating food and to clean my uniform for school and generally body. After finish I am going to study together with my friend. Because have not a money for tutoring, it is means we are together in order to study, in order to perform well in examination. And night I am study little because there is not enough gas.

Do you like school? Yes, because it help me to understudy to read and to write and it help get money and to increase education.

Do you think studying as a girl is different from studying as a boy? Why? Yes, because the girl many time they are doing different home’s job, also she got many bad advised in the street. She is taking long time to filling his boyfriend. By the end, she is join with love, due for that she is miss subject. By the end she got pregnant and she stop school.

What advice would you give to a girl who wants to quit school? I am advised that why you don’t want to go school, because school is better in your life. I am repeat of advise - if you don’t have education you remain as a ignorance.

What would you like to do after secondary school? I want to be a president.

**Notes:

Schools don't provide meals, but villagers neighboring the school prepare food and/or tea for purchase. Only students who have money can buy food. This year, I'm going to consult with these adults and see how much it would cost to pay them to feed all students at the various schools we work with. Win-Win!
Cleaning schools is part of the program in Tanzania and other countries. It instills in the children a sense of pride for their school grounds. Each student is required to buy a broom, hoe, and bucket along with uniforms and reams of paper at the beginning of secondary school. They do it in Japan, too. Take a look.

Thank you for all of your support of these girls. Please share this update by using the Facebook and Twitter buttons below. Tell a friend why this cause matters to you. And, consider making another contribution as part of your year end giving for 2015!

Asante Sana!!

Rai Farrelly
Co-Founder, Project Wezesha
Executive Director, Girls Education International

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Aug 7, 2015
Girls Ed Tanzania Report_Summer 2015

By Rai Farrelly | Co-Founder, Project Wezesha

Girls Ed Students in Mgaraganza, Tanzania

Greetings Girls Education International Supporters,

Girls Ed is happy to share some updates from our Tanzania scholarship program. Thanks to your support, we were able to create the new Tanzania program, building on our existing support of students in Pakistan and Liberia.

Our students in Tanzania attend a few different secondary schools in Kagongo and Mgaraganza villages, as well as villages deeper into the region toward Kasulu. The girls in the program are doing their best to attend classes regularly and study hard so they can excel from year to year. (*I've written this before, but believe me - as soon as the camera snaps (see picture) - they all burst into laughter. The 'photo smile' is very cultural - clearly embraced by Americans as my cheesy grin confirms.)

Throughout the year, our students receive additional support after school so they can work with teachers to really dig deep into the subjects that present them with the most challenges academically. We added this support to our original programming because we discovered in discussions with the girls that they were struggling for various reasons - large class sizes, lack of textbooks, and at times - ineffective teaching practices. During these after school tutoring sessions, they get to work in smaller groups and receive more focused instruction to help them understand the core concepts and prepare for exams. We also purchased textbooks for the girls to study from at home - covering various subjects: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, English, and Math.

Lucas met with the students and encouraged them to study hard and continue to pursue their dreams. They are all well aware that this work is difficult and it requires that they dedicate themselves as much as they can to their studies. We know that success rates will vary, but we also believe that every student deserves an opportunity. We simply hope that those who made the program do their very best with the resources available to them.

Lucas also met with our students’ parents in the spring. They all expressed their joy at the support they are receiving from Project Wezesha and Girls Education International. They are happy that the program is moving forward and some even said that the opportunity is a ‘savior’ for their children and their families.

Lucas encouraged the parents to make sure their children get out the door on time to make their first classes. (You know how hard it can be to get teens out of bed! In Tanzania they're up with the roosters, but getting the sandals to the sand for the walk to school can be a challenge!) He also urged them to carve some time in the day after school for the students to study. Lucas encourages the parents by reminding them that without education, the community will not have doctors, nurses, pilots, and engineers. Lucas is always good for a motivational speech!

Thank you for your continued support! Our next trip update will follow my visit over winter break when I hope to identify teachers who will partake in a co-teaching endeavor with invited teachers from the US who will hopefully join us there in Summer 2016!

Asante Sana!

With Gratitude,

Raichle Farrelly &
The Girls Ed Team

Girls Ed Students at Amahoro Secondary

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