Levelling the playing field for African girls

Not all girls get to use their power. In sub-Saharan Africa, most children fail to realize their dreams and reach their potential — especially girls, because boys’ education is prioritized in this culture. While it’s easy to feel moved by this situation, it’s more difficult to know how to help effectively. Many charities support primary education, but for true change to take place, we need to ensure sub-Saharan African girls also get a fair chance at both secondary and post-secondary school.

One charity that is stepping up to fill this gap in assistance is Beautiful World, supporting girls in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Uganda through high school and university. With the help of their generous Canadian supporters, last year over 250 girls enjoyed another year of learning, studying and being among their peers at school. They were enrolled in programs ranging from grade 10 to university degrees in law and medicine. Beautiful World funded not only tuition for these students, but also school materials, uniforms, housing, meals, tutoring, personal supplies, transportation and counselling — items they need to be successful, while also having a safe place to study and sleep at night.

The most rewarding part is seeing the girls graduate as promising young women, launch into wonderful careers and start to pay it forward. Take for example Brenda, who lives in Uganda and is the second of five children in her family. After her father lost his job and her family’s house was seized by the bank because of unpaid loans, Brenda’s family couldn’t afford to send the star student to university. But Brenda was accepted into Beautiful World’s postsecondary scholarship program.

One step closer to breaking free from the cycle of poverty, Brenda is now pursuing a degree in biomedical science on full scholarship. Especially interested in bone marrow transplants, she wants to help save the lives of the many Ugandan children suffering from sickle cell disease. “I hope to make a change in someone’s life just like the change that was made in mine,” she says.

You can find out more online about how students graduate with pride and excitement and launch into wonderful careers at beautifulworldcanada.org.

Source: www.newscanada.com