Empower Tanzanian Girls Through Education

PEYAI (15) and NAPERERI (17) are two of the Maasi girls living in Ngarenaibo and Kimokowa villages who were expelled from school under Kenyan law when they became pregnant and, for the same reason, they are not permitted to return after giving birth. Peyai's story is particulary telling as it demonstrates the disruption to existing cultural pratice. Peyai's parents arranged an (illegal) child marriage for her. Bet Peyai is of the generation of girls that attend primary school. She wanted to continue her studies. Frightened, she ran away from her village to avoid the marriage, only to encounter a man, who said he would help her. Instead he abused her, and abandoned her when she became pregnant. Poverty forced her return home. Fortunately, Peyai had attended a Tanzanian Women and Yourth Development Society (TWYDS) Project workshop prior to her pregnancy and contacted their director. Peyai and her parents met with the Hon. Sophia Mwakagenda and the result was that the marriage was cancelled. But school was still legally impossible. As part of this project both she and Napereri are learning life skills that will allow them to live healthier lives and earn an income. This support is aimed at empowering them to cope with the extreme stresses caused by their situation. 

Peyai told us 

“I really liked school, I liked my friends and teachers and I liked English. I was not naughty (she giggles) I was performing just fine but one day my father said I will not go back to school again because there was a man ready to marry me (her eyes get watery) ... if it was not for Sophia I would have lost all hope...when I told her my problem, she listened and she confronted my parents and the wedding was stopped...I am very grateful if she and the teachers (field officers) did not come to talk to us I don’t know what would happen to me and the baby, that is why I named her Sophia...”

Our ultimate aim is to keep girls like Peyai and Napereri in school, so our programs aim to break down prejudice against educating girls amongst Maasai elders and other stakeholders, to empower the girls by 

• teaching them about their reproductive health and the dangers of child pregnancy (u. 16), -  Many young girls have no understanding of their bodies, how pregnancy occurs, the dangers of early teen pregancy and HIV infection. Peyai was lucky her parents cared for her during the birth of her baby as she had no idea when she was due and hadn't attended a clinic. In fact, she was 2-3 months out in her estimated due date. She cannot feed her baby adequately as her body is too young to produce enough breast milk and she is so poor, she has nothing for the baby but cotton cloths.
• teaching them about the benefits of education to themselves and their communities.  Girls often prostitute themselves for food. Hope for the future and an understanding of how attendance at school will reduce their risk of STD allows them to make more informed choices, where hunger allows.
• by creating peer groups for the girls, where they can discuss their challenges, share their experience and support each other in their educational goals and
• support groups and life education skills for young village women the Peyai and Napereri, where they can not only voice their concerns, generate support for change, but work together to generate income and create a climate for gender equality in their communities where women have no voice in village decisions.

 But change is happening. Thanks to the diligent work of TWYDS with village elders and Government stakeholders, Project Officer Giz Mdoe was able to report:

"Elders who otherwise uphold traditional practices that undermine children's and women's rights have opened their doors to us and they have allowed their children and wives to come to the workshops and they themselves joined on occasion. We even got invited to a rite of passage ceremony that occurs once every 20 years!"

To date, Sasa Nawez  Stages 1 & 2 has reaed 1500 girls and young women. If you would consider making a monthly donation, ir will help us reacch another 500 girls and 1500 Young women.

Impact across three classes in three schools

Variable                             Prior to project                   First quarter data              % Change

AV Weekly Absentees              21                                           15                               -29%

Pregnancies Reported              30+                                         29*                              0%

per quarter in Ward

* All 29 were forced to drop out by law.

Empowerment Program #150 Young Women

Variable                             Prior to project                   After Project             % Change to Minimum

Income                             0- 300 000 TSH                   30 000-450 000TSH                 +30000%*

Savings                            0-50 000 TSH                      2000-50 000TSH                       +2000%

Women Owned Bus.         10                                       15                                               50%

*30,000TSH = AUD$17.74

Links:

• Sunflower Foundation (Australia) Inc. Website

• Peyai's story in full (DOCX)
• I am Napereri (DOCX)
• Full Progress report from In-country officer (DOCX)

Thanks to you, our donors, we met our target in the Accellerator program and funding was received from GlobalGiving at the end of January. Our partners in Tanzania began to mobilise the project in February and the money was received in Tanzania on March 13. The first site visit is just being concluded. This visit implements stage 1, in which visits to villages will identify the most needy girls and their families through consultation with village elders and families. 

The Hon. Sophia M. and Mr Frank K. were both present on the site visit, and they have shared photos. We know that educating over 1000 girls in the comiing months will have a huge impact in the long term, but it is impossible to overestimate the encouragement and confidence that are engendered, simply because the girls and their families know that someone cares and thinks they are worth investing in. 

These girls and women have no rights within their Maasai tribes. Nor do they have any decision making power. Empowerment through education will be the foundation to change that and eradicate child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.