Give 420 Girls in Tanzania Their Own School

June 2016

Africa Schoolhouse:  Supporting Girls Dreams for Education

Esther‘s Story Inspires Our Work to create a safe space for Girls Education. Girls talk about the difficulties they face in getting an education—everything from long walks to school to a culture that has long valued the education of boys over girls. Esther Peter told us a story that is familiar for many girls. Her story reminds us of the great need for a safe space for girls to receive their education. 

“I have a long journey to get from home to school. When I arrive home, I have so much work to do. I have to fetch the water, go to the market, do the cooking, wash the dishes and then maybe there is a half hour for schoolwork. If I want to finish my studies, I don't get to sleep much. I wake up at 5:00 am to do my chores before leaving for school. There are a lot of challenges on the road, too, when people offer you a lift. If we had a dormitory we wouldn’t face these challenges. I could be safe and focus on my studies and do well at school. My mother and grandmother went to school through 7^th grade. If I get an education, then I know it will improve my chances to have a good life.” 

Milembe School Construction is Underway! The Africa Schoolhouse construction team has been hard at work creating academic spaces for Milembe Girls School. Students will soon have two classrooms and a science lab. But we need your help to keep building! Help us add a much needed dormitory to create a safe living environment for at-risk girls. Providing one girl a safe space for her education impacts generations to come and shifts the cycle of poverty. Together we can have the power to change lives! 

May, 2016

Africa Schoolhouse is nearing completion of the initial building phase at Milembe Girls School.  Our founder recently returned from Tanzania where she worked on the project with our all-local construction team, District partners and school officials.  She reports that the ASH building crew are operating with great efficiency to complete the brand new classrooms.  The ASH team in Tanzania is also communicating regularly with an American design firm that donated intelligent, thoughtful plans after volunteering and spending several months researching at the Milembe Girls School site.  The classrooms feature double roofs to insulate against heat and cold as well as innovative windows that are being fabricated with lightweight, shatterproof fiberglass louvers to allow air and sunlight into the classrooms while protecting students from extreme weather common in the region.

When completed, Milembe Girls School will be the first all-girls boarding school in Misungwi District, a much-needed safe-haven for young women.  Last month, our founder visited the few existing secondary schools in the region where she talked with girls like those who will make up the student body at Milembe.  They are some of the only 1% of girls in rural Tanzania who will graduate from secondary school.  Most of these young women come from families where their mothers and grandmothers had little access to school.  Their individual experiences have given them a deep understanding of the importance of education that they will one day pass on to their own children.  Their important stories inspire us to continue work on the Milembe Girls School, creating a safe, modern place for generations of young women to become empowered through knowledge and camaraderie.

The girls pictured below are like girls everywhere... they want to complete their education and go on to make a difference in the world:

Elizabeth is in Form 2.  She is the first in her large family to go to secondary school, despite her mother’s struggle to pay her school fees after the death of her father. She profoundly values her education and would like to go to graduate school to become a doctor.

Mageni is in Form 1 where she is also the first of her seven siblings to attend secondary school.  She dreams of completing Forms 5 and 6 and of becoming a high school teacher herself.  She told us that when she has a family of her own, “I will make sure my children are going to school like I did.”

Neema is a Form 4 student, also the first of seven siblings to attend secondary school.  As one of the youngest in her family, she too has beaten the odds to make it there.  Neema hopes to become a nurse one day and when she is an adult she will “try to educate other women to send their children to school, education is so important.”

Please donate to Africa Schoolhouse today to provide a school that will change the lives of 420 girls in rural Tanzania!