Education Initiative for Girls
The Aid for Africa Girls Education Fund will provide scholarships for girls to effective, action-oriented organizations like the Tanzania Education Fund (TEF is the support arm of Nianjema school).
"It is a recognition of the success of Nianjema Secondary and High School that we are among the only 14 African schools chosen to be a part of this exciting initiative," says TEF President Chuck Sloan, who part of the planning group that developed this initiative. Chuck was part of the planning group that developed the concept.
"Girls in Tanzania don't receive the same support or encouragement form families to attend and complete their schooling," Sloan continues. "This fund allows us to increase our support for this neglected group of kids."
Education for girls has been an emphasis of the Nianjema and TEF mission since the inception of the school.
"The school was amazing," says Barbara Alison Rose, Executive Director of Aid for Africa, after a visit to Nianjema. Molly, Rose's daughter, volunteered at Nianjema this summer. Participating schools and organizations "understand what it takes and help bring solutions to African problems—including girls’ education. They have a history of supporting students who enroll in school, stay in school, and complete their educations," notes the Aid for Africa website.
As the Aid For Africa Girls Education Fund initiative points out: When girls in developing African nations receive an education and earn income, they put 90 percent of their earnings into their families, compared only to 40 percent for men. When a girl in the developing world goes to school for seven or more years, she marries four years later than she otherwise would and has two or more fewer children. The children she does have are more likely to be healthy and survive past the age of five.
For more, go to What's New on our home page or to: www.aidforafrica.org/girls