We at Girls Education International know how profoundly education changes the lives of the girls we support. We know that you are well aware of the impact of girls education on the lives of women and girls worldwide. It has been said time and again that there can be no greater investment in the world than education -- and perhaps most importantly, girls education.
A recent article by the Thomas Reuters Foundation (read it here) reports that not educating girls could cost the world $30 Trillion! Yet 130,000,000 (million) girls are out of school worldwide.
"If every girl in the world finished 12 years of quality education, lifetime earnings for women could increase by $15 trillion to $30 trillion every year."
Our program in Tanzania supports 35 girls. We support the majority of our girls with our December and June Study camps. We also provide many of these girls with support outside of camp, such as uniforms, textbooks, and in some cases, weekend tutoring programs.
As noted by Quentin Wodon of the World Bank, primary education is important -- but it is not enough. "The benefits of educating girls are considerably higher at secondary school level in comparison to primary education..."
Eight of our girls just started new certificate programs. You can see which programs each girl has selected on our "Sponsor a Girl" page. For International Day of the Girl Child (October 11th), we are hoping to secure a one-to-one sponsorship for each girl. If you'd be interested, please follow the link above and select a girl who is still 'available' for sponsorship. As you click her name to donate via PayPal, please indicate which girl you are offering to support.
In addition to the eight certificate program students, we have two girls starting high school this year! These are our first high school students and we are so thrilled for them. Doing well enough on national exams after completing secondary school (Forms 1-4) is a huge obstacle for girls aiming to attend high school. Next, is the financial burden.
Edasta - One of our first high school students!
Edasta and Nasra did their part to earn scores that afforded them spots in high school and now Girls Ed is standing behind them with financial support. But "we" includes "you" -- so please consider helping us meet our challenge to get each girl a sponsor for this year (if not both years of their studies)!
"When 130 million girls are unable to become engineers or journalists or CEOs because education is out of their reach, our world misses out on trillions of dollars," Malala Yousafzai.
Join us -- not only because the world will gain, but because together we are quite literally changing these girls' lives!
We were recently contacted by a high school student who was moved by our work and wanted to help out. She is going to spearhead a Students-for-Students campaign at her school -- perhaps a 5k run for International Day of the Girl Child. Run like a Girl! If you, your children, your students, your workplace, or your school want to generate momentum through your own fundraising initiative - we're here to help! Let us brainstorm with you and see what we can do together. Email us at info@girlsed.org
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@GirlsEd). We are seeking to engage our supporters with inspiring stories about girls and women in the world, with updates about our students and with opportunities to be involved.