Unprecedented challenges
Girls living in poverty face unprecedented challenges to their education and their physical and mental wellbeing.
Without a place at school they are deprived of the protections needed for a life without violence and denied the pathway to a better, more productive life.
COVID-19 has worsened existing burdens on girls around the world and increased the inequality they face. More than 1 in 4 secondary age girls are out of education and more girls in the poorest regions have not returned to school after the pandemic. Those with a place are often pulled out to support the family.
Our work with the Sisters of Mary prioritises education and focuses on providing opportunities for these most impoverished girls. We reach girls in the most remote and deprived regions to offer full time education and skills training for employment and a better, more equal life.
Quality education and employment
We now have nearly 11,000 secondary age girls each year in our care at our schools around the world. They are receiving a full time, quality education and technical training for local employment.
They learn academic and technical skills accredited by the ministry of education in each country. Their training is designed in conjunction with local employers to prepare the girls for skilled roles and local vacancies.
The girls grow into resourceful and resilient young women, with choices, confident in their abilities and ambitious for the future. Successful and employed, they fulfil their potential and go on to share their skills and build brighter futures for themselves and generations of their families and communities.
Skilled, resilient and ready for the future
For young women and mothers who have dropped out of education due to lack of access or early marriage we now also provide specific technical skills training in our Kiluvya training centre in Tanzania.
For these young women access to education and training readies them for employment or to set up their own businesses to support their families.
Sharmin is just one of these young ladies who joined us this year. From a deeply impoverished family, Sharmin missed out on schooling to help at home with her mother and father but she faced an extremely bleak future. She joined our training course in January 2022.
With the skills she has now learnt, Sharmin has just successfully graduated and secured her first full time job. She is overjoyed at her success and hopeful for her future. Now that she is earning a regular salary she is able to share her skills with others in her community and help her mother to restart their small family business, ensuring that their future will be much better than their past.
More blog posts
19/07/2024
60 years of Every Child’s Birthday
2024 marks 60 years of the Sisters of Mary and Every Child’s Birthday. We reflect on the momentous achievements of the past 60 years.
15/07/2024
Nelson Mandela Day
Nelson Mandela said “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
18/06/2024
Child Food Poverty 2024
Almost 700 million people still live in extreme poverty on less than £1.60 per day. Deprived of food, with only one or two meals a day, children raised in poverty lack the balanced nutrition needed to grow, leading to developmental difficulties, stunted growth and poor long term health.