#GivingTuesday Girls Fund 2023

This year, we're starting a University Fund for our female students. Girls in Tanzania face many gender-specific challenges in school. The fact that our girls are excelling in their high school leaving examinations and making it through to higher education is a huge deal! In Tanzania, you have to qualify through examination results to be selected for university and Wema is the first of our students to reach this major milestone. 61% of secondary school-aged (14-19) girls in Tanzania are not in school and only 1.3% of the whole population has a university degree. Getting our students to this point, but especially the girls, is an accomplishment so big (on their part) it's hard to put into words and with your continued support, they'll soon join this very small percent of students that complete university. Ensuring that girls attend and complete any level of education is more costly, as they require specific safety and health needs that don't apply to boys. In university, these expenses include finding them safe places to live that are near their university campus for a limited walking commute and supplying them with enough menstrual products to make sure they don't have to miss classes during their periods. With this Fund, we'll raise money to continue supporting our girls in all of the different ways they need that in school, and with the added costs that come along with not just giving them an education, but also a safer present and a more promising future. 

We've been fundraising for 12 years now and most of you know how much our students have thrived through education. In SO MANY WAYS, they are healthier, happier, safer, smarter, and better equipped to succeed in life. What your support helps us accomplish is immeasurable!