Educate a Girl, Educate a Nation - Sierra Leone

Summary

This project supports girls in Sierra Leone who are at risk of dropping out of school by providing scholarships and books / school supplies. The project also provides vocational training and business development opportunities. Traditionally, girls have been offered less educational opportunities than boys. Where family funds are limited, preference has been given to boys. This project is helping to level the playing field by promoting and supporting the education of girls.

$50,000
total goal

$17,127
remaining

352
donors

6
monthly donors

6
years active

Challenge

Only 54% of enrolled girls in Sierra Leone successfully complete their primary education. The greatest barriers to the on-going education of girls are school-related costs, poverty, sexual abuse, early pregnancies and teen marriages. Due to the insufficiency of social safety nets in Sierra Leone, girls from poor and marginalized families are denied access to basic education. They fall through the cracks ending up in dead-end, hopeless situations.

Solution

This project will provide scholarships for girls to ensure their continued education. Girl-mothers will be equipped with marketable skills and business startup funds to generate regular income to become self-sufficient.

Long-Term Impact

By providing the needed support to continue and complete their education, girls will be able to break out of the vicious cycle that entraps unskilled and resource-poor girls. At-risk girls will become emancipated women when given the chance to be well-educated, and develop into useful citizens who are gainfully employed and self-sufficient.