Empower Tanzanian Girls Through Education

Things in Kenya and at the school are continuing as good as they can, even though the country has gone into another lockdown.

With the extra time, the girls have had their go at farming and growing their own food. This is both a project of growth for the girls and for the plants themselves. It takes patience and skill to grow the food, but it is something that compounds itself: the skills to grow the food increase with each crop, as does the yield.

That is why they have started a food security development program. These types of programs focus on sustainability by continually seeking solutions to increase the availability in the food that is grown on the school grounds. This way there can be multiple harvests a year, and as a result more food for the girls.

A result of looking to grow our own food, is that the easiest and lower skilled plants are fruit and vegetables. This means that they are making sure to stay healthy during the pandemic by eating right. These are habits that will stay with them throughout life.

The food is healthy for the body and for the school budget. Previous to starting the sustainable food program, fruit and vegetables accounted for over 20% of the food costs. Now that is much, much lower. This in turn means there is more money to help the school grow.

In these tough times, it is important to be adaptive and creative.

Both students and staff have been working to grow food at the school, and we have started harvesting mangoes, papaya, bananas, oranges and other small vegetables. They have expanded what they are growing as they get more skills and have planted some trees in the literacy garden.

In a few years time, the girls will be able to sit out there and read while smelling sweet fruit growing all around them.

We are excited for this development and proud of the school for focusing on sustainable projects. We are also proud of the girls for learning these new skills.