In 2012 Mfariji Africa began as a small project distributing sanitary towels to girls in villages and marginalized areas in Kenya to reduce class absenteeism during menstruation. Over time the vision has expanded to improving the lives of Kenyan girls by helping them to stay in school and complete their education though different programs.
I wasn’t a huge video game player as a kid but I definitely appreciated a good game of Mario Brothers or Duck Hunt (I am clearly showing my age here). When I was really doing well, I would get a bonus--a "power up" --something extra that would help me immediately or later in the game. Supporting women and girls in reaching their dreams is like one big power up for the world.
Hi! I'm Ami. I want to be a pilot.
In 2014, President Jakaya Kikwete visited our first project, Ntulya Primary School, deeming it “a model school that should be copied throughout Tanzania." As we break ground on Milembe Girls Secondary School in nearby Iteja Village, the concept of an efficient, repeatable school drives our plans and execution. What makes a school model-worthy? After 8 years and a variety of building projects in rural Tanzania, we have come to learn there are varying essential elements that define what makes a school successful.
Every year children throughout the world miss 443 million days of school because of water-borne illness. We know that access to school is absolutely essential to a country’s sustainable development, and yet water insecurity and lack of sanitation places so many hurdles in the way that it becomes difficult to make headway toward educational goals.
Next up, math classes! The women of the two villages of Djangoula, in rural southwestern Mali, made the same request. Separately. Perhaps they had discussed the issue together. Perhaps their conclusions were reached independently.
They’d like to learn basic arithmetic, and sharpen their skill at accounting.
When I think of girls’ education in Africa, I dream of a continent where women and men are treated equally. I long for a continent where women are equal contributors to society; a continent where girls receive the same opportunities as their male counterparts so they can tap into their inherent potential. I would love to see every single girl have access to a free, quality education in Africa.
Successful implementation of Millennium Development Goal #2 will ensure that all boys and girls everywhere will be able to complete a full course of primary school. As we know, although great progress has been made, worldwide there are still more than 58 million children of primary school age who are not in school.
With Education for All as our over-riding goal, The Nobelity Project is celebrating ten years as a non-profit, a decade of telling inspiring stories and working to take inspired actions. With a full-time staff of just two (my co-founder and Executive Director Christy Pipkin and a Program Coordinator), we are constantly searching for avenues with a relatively large impact on both education issues and real-world results.
The 6th of December was a warm winter morning when we, the Didis (Nepali for elder sisters and what the girls call us mentors), and the Rukmini Scholars (bahinis = younger sisters) gathered together. It was a very meaningful day for all of us for many reasons.
