By Rai Farrelly | Member, Board of Directors
Greetings Girls Education Pakistan Project Supporters!
It is with great joy that we share with you our final project report for this Girls Ed Pakistan program. Can you believe it's been five years! And now, we are not only fully funded, but the program is self-sustaining and thus, we are moving onward and upward into new villages to support 100 new girls in Pakistan!
Here's an exciting recap of what you helped us accomplish (based on the report from our in country partner NGO, Bedari). Get ready to feel your heart smile!!
Girls Education is now a trend in Laphi! As reported by Bedari volunteer Mr. Murtaza, the village of Laphi now has a new batch of girls with secondary education after a gap of 30 years.
“I believe nobody can stop our girls from going to school now.” - Mr. Murtaza.
The Future of a Village. Our partners at Bedari believe that the village of Laphi will change beyond recognition in the coming 10 years as these girls will soon be earning, mothering and mentoring the new generation.
Success Stories!! One of our students, Awatif, has completed her graduation after 14 years of education. She is now working as a teacher at a local adult literacy center! Another student, Sobia, received a scholarship from the government to continue her studies after completing secondary education.
Child Marriages Subsiding! Last but not least, this project has contributed significantly to the reduction of child marriages. Of all the girls who benefitted from this project, only one girl got married at the age of 17. Some girls are now 20 years old, and still unmarried. This is going to have a huge impact on the health, family size, decision making, and overall empowerment of girls in the community in the long run.
WHY IS THE PROJECT CLOSING?
Two Great Reasons:
1. It became sustainable! After 5 years, the increase in girls attending secondary school has risen significantly, even outside of this project. The influence of the project on this trend is undeniable. We acknowledge, along with Bedari, that a reasonable period of intervention in one village should be around 5 years. We cannot (and should not) provide support to girls in one village infinitely. That would create dependency. We should focus on villages where girls’ education is not a priority, intervene for 5 years, make girls’ education a priority and leave when it becomes a priority. Guess what - in the original villages we began working with - Girls Education is now a PRIORITY! Bravo and Thank you for your support!!
2. We are moving on with more girls in more villages! The project has concluded in the orignial villages, but now we continue our partnership with Bedari in a new project. This project aims to support 100 new girls in the villages of Maria, Thirchak, Chakki Rangpur, and Dharyala Kahoon. The photos you see are from the ceremony held in Dharyala Kahoon to celebrate the launch of our girls education project. In attendance was the principal of the nearest secondary school, where most of this village's girls will continue their education. We foresee a promising relationship with this school's administration.
Again, we have to express our deepest gratitude to all of you for your support over the past several years. When we donate to causes around the world, it's hard to know what impact we've really had. Thanks to our partner, Bedari, we have been able to keep you updated on the girls, and now, share the amazing impact this project has had on entire communities. It's truly remarkable and we are so happy to have had you along for this journey! Thank you!
Please, continue to support us in our efforts to increase awareness about girls education, support girls in Pakistan, and ensure that girls ed is a priority! You can do so by supporting us through this new project on GlobalGiving.
Thank you so much!
The Girls Ed Team & Bedari
By Rai Farrelly | Member, Board of Directors
By Therese Thompson | Executive Director
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