By Keturah Shammah | Executive Director
Dear Partner,
One of the most important questions we ask ourselves at Girls Education Mission International is: What happens when a girl is unable to remain in school?
For many girls in communities where families struggle to meet the cost of education, dropping out is not a choice. It is what happens when there is simply no other option.This is why the GEM Scholarship Program exists. Our scholarships are helping girls who are at risk of dropping out remain in school continue their education and hold on to the possibility of a different future.
During our recent visit to the Government Senior Secondary School Gangare, the principal of the school shared what she has witnessed among girls supported through the GEM scholarship intervention. According to her, the scholarship has been a turning point for girls whose parents had made several efforts to pay their school fees but could not afford to keep up. “These girls would have dropped out by now,” she explained. The intervention came at a critical moment, giving the girls the opportunity to remain in school when their families could no longer carry the financial burden.
But for the Principal, the impact goes beyond simply paying school fees. She described the scholarship as something that has “turned around their lives” and “given them hope.” She said. now that the girls know they have an opportunity to remain in school, she observed a change in their attitude towards their education. She see then now paying more attention to their studies because they understand that the opportunity they have been given is one they must make good use of.
The Principal also spoke candidly about what she has seen happening to girls who are unable to continue their education. According to her, some girls who drop out eventually enter into marriage while they are still very young, and in some cases, those marriages do not last. While some return to their parents' homes with children, their parents themselves may already be struggling to provide for the family. Consequenttly, others end up selling food or hawking goods on the streets simply because they have few alternatives available to them.
This is the vulnerability GEM is trying to interrupt.
The Principal further explained that when girls who have dropped out are brought closer and asked what they really want, many of them say they want to go back to school and acquire an education. To the most girls, the problem is not always a lack of interest, sometimes, the opportunity simply does not come. And when the opportunity does not come, a girl may have to face whatever circumstances are available to her.
The Principal's message is particularly powerful because she does not suggest that secondary education automatically solves every challenge a girl will face, rather, she sees education as a foundation.
Even if a girl is unable to continue to higher education, completing secondary school gives her a stronger foundation from which to learn a skill, enter a trade or pursue another opportunity.
As she put it, education helps young people see things differently and reason differently and an educated girl entering a trade or learning a skill can therefore have different possibilities available to her than a girl who was forced to leave school without completing her basic education. This is why the Principal is calling for more support to help girls complete their secondary education. Listen to the principal message.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj8GOagw0zQ&t=33s
This is what YOUR support makes possible
For every donor who supports GEM, the impact of a scholarship can look simple on paper LIKE JUST A school fees paid, but behind that payment is a much bigger story.
It mean a girl remains in her classroom instead of dropping out.
It mean she has more time to grow before making decisions about marriage and work.
It mean she completes secondary school and has the foundation to pursue higher education, vocational training, entrepreneurship or another pathway.
It mean she wakes up believing that her future still holds possibilities.
And sometimes, it simply mean that a girl gets to remain a girl in school.
That is why we are deeply grateful to our YOU for continues support to GEM's work. Your generosity is helping us respond to a very real challenge faced by girls and families in communities where the cost of education can become the difference between staying in school and dropping out.
Now, help us keep the next girl in school
As GEM celebrates 15 years of impact, we are reminded that our journey started with just 10 girls.
Today, we know that there are still many more girls who need someone to stand with them.
Through #Give15Gain15, we are inviting YOU to help us strengthen this work and reach more girls.
Your $15 can become part of the support that keeps a girl in school, keeps hope alive and gives her the foundation to imagine a future beyond the circumstances around her.
Fifteen years ago, we started with 10 girls.
The next girl is waiting.
Help us keep her in school.
Give15. Gain15.
With gratitude,
from all of us at
Girls Education Mission International
Links:
By Keturah Shammah | Executive Director
By Keturah Shammah | Executive Director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
