We have identified that the girls and women in the community are at a particular risk. Especially we have noticed single teenage mother drop out of school, child marriage, a lack of gender balance in most professions, and a lack of sexual education. We would like to tackle these issues in the community through education. We also would like to support and encourage teenage mothers to return to school or support them to be able to start their own business or start and apprenticeship.
The main challenge is lack of education of the women and girls in our community. Many do not know their rights or how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies. Furthermore, many do not know where they can go for support and many families will not accept a teenage mother, often leaving them to struggle on their own. Many families have out-dated views on the role of them women and hence, due to a lack of education they might even force their girl child into child marriages.
We will offer education on how to protect oneself not only from unwanted pregnancies, but also sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, we will offer support to teenage mothers to get back to school through scholarships. We will also support those who cannot return to school through apprenticeship training and livelihood projects. Finally, we aim to educate the entire community on the negative effects of childhood marriage and the importance of equality for all.
Every society will thrive to a greater extend if its members are all empowered and each member of the society is educated and contributing to the economic development for all. We believe that at the moment a great source of economic development - the women and girls - is left out. This will not only improve the lives of individuals, but of entire families and communities. We hope that through education we will see fewer teenage mothers, more independent women and no child marriages.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
