Empowering grandmothers for children's education

Grandmother Project conducted an eight-month training program to help grandmothers contribute effectively, both individually and collectively, to the promotion of support for girls' education and Holistic Development.

This training program took place from December 2023 to July 2024 across ten sites. Numerous training sessions were held throughout this period.

The goal of this ambitious program was to strengthen the leadership of selected grandmother leaders, enhance their self-confidence, expand their knowledge, and foster trust among them. All participants were identified beforehand by their peers based on their traditional roles and status.

The specific aim of the program was to mobilize and train 100 grandmother leaders to promote support for girls' education, improve the health and well-being of adolescent girls, and protect them from harmful practices such as child marriage, early pregnancies, and female genital mutilation in the selected communities.

To identify the 100 grandmother leaders who would participate in the training sessions, community visits and general assemblies were held during October and November 2023, prior to the start of the training, to allow sufficient time for their selection.

Methodology and educational tools used

The participatory adult education method was employed to encourage grandmothers to reflect on their experiences and consider new ideas to contribute to the development of young girls. The dynamic and participatory learning activities included exercises, role-playing, images illustrating concrete issues, traditional stories with moral lessons, case studies, and simulations. All activities in the various training sessions were interactive.

As a result, the training sessions for grandmother leaders over the eight months achieved the following:

• Strengthened solidarity among the grandmothers
• Increased their knowledge about the critical period of adolescence
• Boosted their confidence in their leadership roles within the community
• Enhanced their communication skills with young girls
• Strengthened collaboration between the grandmothers and other development actors
• Reinforced their role in guiding and protecting young girls from child marriage and female genital mutilation.

A brief evaluation study conducted at the different grandmother leader training sites showed that the participants have strengthened their roles by carrying out various activities within their communities to support girls, as well as engaging in collective actions to enhance cohesion among themselves. For example, they mobilized communities to organize schoolyard cleaning days and initiated contributions to address material issues related to girls' education. Additionally, following the training, the grandmother leaders organized sessions with members of their respective communities. The following table provides an overview of the participants in the various meetings organized within these different communities.

 Actors                                             Direct beneficiaries.                                                                           Indirect beneficiarie Grandmother leaders                       100

Other grandmotherS                         198                                                                                                    136

Adolescent girls                                 476                                                                                                   275

Mothers                                              423                                                                                                  185

Young boys                                                                                                                                                189

Mrn                                                                                                                                                            109

Total                                                   1197                                                                                                894

The results in the table clearly demonstrate the significant interest these communities have in this training program, which aims to increase the knowledge and empowerment of grandmothers so that they can individually and collectively contribute to promoting support for girls' education and holistic development.

To conclude the training program for the 100 grandmother leaders across the ten sites, Grandmother Project, in partnership with two community radio stations, organized ten radio broadcasts within the communities, featuring grandmothers, girls, mothers, and male leaders. These decentralized broadcasts were recorded in the communities and then aired on the radio. According to the radio officials, nearly 120,000 listeners followed these broadcasts. The themes of these broadcasts primarily focused on the role of a community leader in protecting children, especially girls; girls' education; communication with adolescent girls; physical and psychological changes in adolescents; child marriages; the consequences of early pregnancies; female genital mutilation; and the importance of communication between the three generations of women. 

Feedbacks from the participants: 

"In the past, we did nothing to protect our young girls. There was no support for their education, and they were victims of early marriages. After these sessions, we understood that we have the responsibility to support them. From now on, we will watch over them, protect them from early marriages, and promote their education." - GM Maoundé

"Grandmother Project taught us how we can contribute to promoting girls’ education. The training sessions strengthened our capacity as leaders to support and protect young girls against traditional harmful practices." - GM Sédio 

"Before, we used to marry off our daughters at the age of 13, but now we will fight against this practice. If we learn that a father in the village has decided to marry off his daughter, we will calmly talk to him to make him reconsider his decision. We will explain the consequences that may arise to dissuade him. Then, we can commit to guiding and protecting his daughter from early pregnancies." - GM Salimatou

Grandmother Project – Change through Culture has made significant progress in empowering grandmothers for children’s, especially girls’, education thanks to your strong support. Together, we're making a real difference for girls in their communities by providing them with the necessary tools to build their future.

We hope to receive more generous contributions to continue empowering more grandmothers for children’s education.

 Read more below about what GMP has been working on, on our website.

www.grandmotherproject.org

Grandmother Project – Change through Culture (GMP) Girl’s Holistic Development (GHD) promotes the development and well-being of girls. Grandmothers are the guardians of traditions and can help bring about change for girls. They traditionally play a central and influential role throughout the life cycle of women and children and have the power to influence men’s decision-making. 

With resources from generous donors, GMP recently implemented a series of All Women Forums and Under the Tree informal education sessions in 12 different communities. These innovative sessions bring together three generations of women to engage in dialogue on key issues relating to the development of girls and to build community census for change to support them.

These sessions empower grandmothers with new knowledge and leadership skills to take collective action to support girls. Adolescent girls demonstrate increased confidence and determination to continue and to succeed in secondary school. 

“Grandmothers play an important role in the lives of children, especially girls. The people we have grown up to become today are a result of the considerable support that our grandmothers have provided in our upbringing. They have instilled into us all the good values we possess”. Grandmother Leader

“With GMPs’ approach, I am beginning to feel inclined to frequently attend its meetings. I feel I have gained much from them and I now feel confident. I feel like I could have my say in any kind of gathering and I didn’t feel any sort of limitation or restriction when expressing my opinion. Furthermore, the forum encourages everyone to have their say.” Adolescent Girl