Secondary School Scholarships for Tanzanian Girls

Hello dear AfricAid supporters,

We're very grateful to have your support to help supply secondary school scholarships for girls in Tanzania.  This is so critically needed as only about 5% of girls in Tanzania graduate from secondary school and just one year of secondary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 20%.

As we move forward into 2012, we're securing partnerships with more and more secondary schools in the Arusha area and will have 4 new schools signed-up by the end of March.   This will enable us to reach even more girls with scholarship assistance.

We're so grateful for your support.  Asante sana!  (thank you)

Elizabeth Abshire

Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Thank you, once again, for providing secondary school scholarships for girls in Tanzania. I am writing today to share with you that even just one scholarship can truly change lives -- both for the scholarship recipient, but also for her family and community!

I'd like to share a story with you about one young woman, Prisca, whose life has been changed by an AfricAid scholarship. Prisca and I are actually the same age: we’re both 26 years old. But Prisca was born in a remote corner of northern Tanzania. And the day after she was born, a man came to Prisca’s family and said that he hoped to marry Prisca when she finished Primary School (the 7^th grade). So, in exchange for several cattle, Prisca was entered into this arranged marriage. Her life continued as normal for the next several years, and she started going to Primary School. She walked three hours to and from school each day, returning home late in the evenings to do chores such as gathering firewood and fetching water, and getting up very early and walking to school in the dark, so that she could sit and study for just a few minutes before school started. This hard work started to pay off for Prisca, and she soon was at the top of her class. Every time she scored well on her tests, the boys in her class were so upset that a girl was outperforming them that they would taunt her, pinch her and sometimes even throw stones at her. But she didn’t give up, and at the end of her 7^th grade year, she scored well enough on her national examinations to continue on to secondary school (high school). As a result, she had to make the difficult decision to postpone her arranged marriage, which was unheard of in her community. In so doing, she became the first girl in her village to go to high school, and AfricAid provided the scholarship for her to go. She is now in teacher training college, studying to become the first woman teacher in her village – and true inspiration to the entire generation of girls who will follow her!

Thank you for all that you are doing to create opportunities for young women like Prisca!

With much appreciation,

Ashley Shuyler

Founder and Executive Director, AfricAid

Links:

• Learn more about AfricAid Scholarships Today!