Let's Keep Girls in School

Despite the catastrophic damage inflicted on the city of Toamasina and on our programs by Cyclone Gezani in February, by June CRMF and our partners ONG St. Gariel were able to restart all our educational programs including “Let’s Keep Girls in School.”

In the urban area, a new cohort of 60 girls added cooking classes and classes in leadership and self-confidence to the core curriculum of hygiene education, menstrual hygiene management, lessons in human anatomy and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.

In the rural area, a new cohort of 60 girls from the Model Healthy Village of Ambodisiny added to their core classes in self-care, training sessions in making organic compost and vermicompost. This creative summer program promotes among the girls biological and ecological practices for a more sustainable and self-reliant future for themselves and their communities.

Summer programs like these keep girls engaged in meaningful activities while school is not in session.

Links:

• http://www.caringresponse.org

• Lets_Keep_Girls_in_School__Summary_activity_and_data_report_for_2025.pdf (PDF)
  

On February 10,Cyclone Gezani devastated urban and rural Toamasina and impacting 99% of the population. It destroyed homes and businesses, damaged the electrical grid, and halted the projects that CRMF and ONG St. Gabriel have built for a quarter of a century, including the Let's Keep Girls in School program. 

Prior to the cyclone, these were the results we had documented:

120 young girls enrolled
• Reduction in school absenteeism from 25% to 5%
• Improvement in school enrollment rates from 60% to 85%

As we restart this program in the post-cyclone recovery period, we hope to enroll 480 urban and rural girls in menstrual hygiene education classes.

One positive outcome of the cyclone recovery effort has been the introduction of hand-held solar lights that enable students to continue their studies at home after dark.