Train 50 women teachers in Uganda to educate 1000s

Graduate Women International (GWI) is deeply grateful to all our donors to our Teachers for Rural Futures Global Giving Campaign.

GWI is supporting five girls at Makerere University who are currently sitting their end of semester exams. Two of the girls (Winfred and Benadet) are now in their second year and three (Hasifa, Jane and Victoria) are in their first year of university. Hasifa, Jane and Victoria have managed the transition from secondary school to university very well, and their academic performance has been great. All five girls have been assigned mentors to help them through their studies.

Even with tuition fees paid, girls particularly in rural areas still face obstacles in completing their education. Patriarchal cultures often prevent girls from accessing or completing secondary school. At the end of February 2017, GWI national federation and project partner the Ugandan Association of University Women (UAUW) will organise and deliver community engagement workshops in Kamuli district to foster good community relationships and build support for girls’ education in remote communities. These workshops will bring together traditional leaders, district education officers, teenage girls and boys, teachers and parents. It is a long difficult task to change attitudes and behaviour, but with ambassadors for education like Winfred, Benadet, Jane, Hasifa and Victoria, the advantages of empowering girls and women can be made clear.

With our sincere thanks for making it possible for today’s generation of girls to continue their education and succeed. Our work wouldn’t be possible without the help and support of so many of you. By giving our student teachers the knowledge and skills, we give them the chance to believe in themselves, to inspire others around them and to become the leaders for theirs and future generations. This is what one of our student teachers Victoria had to say “Without your generous support, I would not be in school. My education will help me to improve the academic standards in my district Buyende”.

GWI would like to thank you for your continued support and assistance! To read more about our project, please visit our website at http://www.graduatewomen.org/what-we-do/projects/secondary-school-teachers-for-rural-futures/.

With gratitude,

Lorraine Mangwiro

Programme Officer

GWI was delighted to be able to visit Uganda and meet the five student teachers in person at Makerere University. The meeting with GWI staff member Amy was organised by Professor Alice Kagoda, the local project co-ordinator, and Marjorie, the girls' mentor. Academic staff at the School of Education in Makerere were introduced as well as members of the GWI affiliate association in Uganda, the Uganda Association of University Women (UAUW). 

It was wonderful to talk to the girls and hear in more detail their backgrounds and motivation to become qualified secondary teachers. All five girls are from large families in Buyende, a region of Uganda largely devoted to subsistence farming. For all of their parents, it was a struggle to send ther children to school, since education in Uganda involves costs that are challenging for many families to meet. As a result, the opportunity to go to university is one that all of them wished for but had little hope of achieving.

The project is now sponsoring five student girls to train as secondary teachers, two are now in their second year and three in their first year. All of the girls are keen to contribute to their community once qualified. For Hasifa, she sees the unique position of being a women teacher as one that can interact with and positively influence many community members to keep their girl children at school. For Jane, she saw herself as being a future role model to set a positive example of a salaried, independent women contributing socially. Winfred looks forward to being able to raise the academic standard of her community in Buyende. All five girls are strong advocates for girls' education in Uganda, which is supported by the project's regular community engagement activities, conducted by UAUW.  Read more about the individual girls and the Teachers for Rural Futures project here.

All five young women are committed to their studies and to furthering the outreach and quality of education for both girls and boys in their district. GWI is extremely proud of them. With your support, these girls can continue to grow and achieve progress on the right to quality education for girls and women. Individual donations provide funding for tuition and examinations, university accommodation, books, transport to and from home, living expenses and community engagement.

Thanks to your continued support, more qualified women teachers means 1000s more girls in rural communities can go to school. On #GivingTuesday, 29 November 2016, there is a fantastic opportunity to have your donations matched by 50% byGlobalGiving. The 2016 #GivingTuesday campaign will begin November 29th, 2016 at 00:00:01 EST and end at 23:59:59 EST on November 29th, 2016.

Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to donate to this project at this time!