Help Us Build Girls Hostels

It may seem hard to believe but once they finish their homework, Fatuma, Maria, Pilli, Maimuna and Elizabeth have to fetch water, cook, wash their clothes, queue for the only bathroom and toilet (we are talking bucket and drop hole here) along with another 50 or so people and get into these two joined single beds for the night. Yet, none of this dampens their spirits because they think they are lucky for still being at school and a secondary one at that.

Indeed, Fatuma, Maria, Pilli, Maimuna and Elizabeth (who is cooking) are pupils at the Ilongero Secondary School in Singida, Tanzania. As for the majority of rural students living too far away they have to rent accommodation. In a poor country like Tanzania, this usually means overcrowded, insalubrious and downright unsuitable rooms away from parental guidance and safety. Rooms are often part of a complex of mixed accommodation so girls are never far from men, who will often be drunk and may have quite different ideas about the role of young women. In such conditions, life is often frightening and dangerous for girls.

Pili says: "I have to share my bed and it’s hard to sleep. I like my friends but there is no privacy. I have to study in the evenings but there is no electricity and when it gets dark I am scared because there are no locks. Some girls have been abused, even raped. I have no safe place to go but I really want to study. Please help to build me a new safe building so I can have a bed of my own and locks on the doors”.

Is it any wonder that many leave before the end of their studies?

Would your daughter, grandchild, niece, find the strength to stay the course in such conditions?

But some do, all to their credit and this is why they deserve your support for the construction of a hostel in the ground of their school.

PLEASE HELP US WITH THE FINANCING OF HOSTELS

Read more here on how you can help.