Girls education

Although Tanzania is one of the few countries in Sub-Sahara Africa to have achieved near gender equity in primary schools, only a small percentage of girls make it to the end of secondary education. The reasons are many and linked to socio-economic issues, such as poverty, the need to care for other family members and the traditional role of women within the household. But also and increasingly, girls do not carry on with their studies due to an alarming rate of early pregnancies, that bring to light the extent of the exposure of girls to HIV/AIDS.

Protection from this type of gender violence as well as the widely publicised evidence that the education of girls is the one investment with the most profound life changing results are behind our commitment to fund hostels where girls can safely study in a conducive environment, avoiding the usually long (up to 10km each way) and dangerous walk to school or the renting of unsuitable accommodation near the school.

It is our dream to build hostels in every secondary school grounds, not only because we think they are the most effective tool in our quest to see girls do well and finish their studies, but also because in all the villages where we do Rural Participatory Appraisals, the villagers express this wish. In fact they’d like to see hostels built for boys too.

 Click here for more information on hostel and on how you can help.