145 Women Participate in WGEP Kenya Adult Literacy Classes
WGEP Kenya's Adult Literacy program held classes for women in six villages with 145 total attendees. In addition to studying basic literacy and math, the women share ideas and tips for income-generating activities, and for managing family commitments to prioritize study time for their children--especially their daughters. They also collectively vowed to refuse female genital mutilation for their daughters and serve as role models for the empowerment of women.
WGEP Kenya Gatunga Scholars Receive De-wormers
In 2010, Gatunga Primary School received health information and de-wormers from a health community workerwith the Ministry of Health, Marimanti Hosptial.
WGEP Kenya Molding Clubs Reach 500 Children
WGEP Kenya's "Molding Clubs" program reached 500 boys and girls from eight villages in 2010. This is up from 350 participants and five villages the year before. Molding Clubs provide girls and boys with opportunities to break down gender barriers and work together on community issues important to them. This year Molding Club participants learned and worked together on topics such as health, adolescent well-being, personal relationships, decision-making skills, girls' education, women's rights, and ecological and economic projects such as chicken rearing and tree planting.
16 WGEP Senegal Scholars Receive Academic Honors
WGEP Senegal congratulates our 16 secondary school scholars who received honors for academic achievement in 2010! Special recognition goes out to Maimouna Diallo, a 10th grader from Sokone High School who received four awards for academic excellence.
WGEP Senegal 2010 Retention Rate at 93%
Retention rates for WGEP Senegal scholars reached 93 percent by the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Retention rates this high are rarely seen among girls in rural Senegalese communities due to intense family, social and cultural pressures to prioritize other matters--including early marriage or supporting the family--ahead of school.
79% of WGEP Senegal Scholars Pass Baccalaureate National Exams
WGEP scholars who took the 2010 Baccalaureate national exams had a 79 percent passing rate, up from 75 percent in 2009. The Baccalaureate is a notoriously difficult exam that is often used to weed students out of the school system. All of the scholars who failed the exam in 2009 retook the exam in 2010 and passed.
185 WGEP Senegal Scholars Participate in Female Leadership Mentoring Program
In 2010, WGEP Senegal enrolled 185 high school scholars in its Female Leadership Mentoring program, where the girls were able to meet and talk with female role models, many of whom successfully broke into traditionally male-dominated fields. The students got to meet Dr. Marie Sarr, one of the head doctors of the Fatick medical district and had the opportunity to visit Senegal's Goree Island and visit the national Women's Museum there.
300 Scholars Receive Health Training
300 WGEP Senegal scholars and their families participated in our 2010 health training programs, receiving health education on a variety of health topics like sanitation, nutrition and disease prevention. Additionally, the program treated 120 cases of illnesses ranging from earaches to bronchitis, reducing health-related absences from school.
Five Sisters-to-School Senegal scholars took part in the recent summer camp for girls held just outside of Sokone in the Fatik region and hosted jointly by Peace Corps Senegal and WGEP's Senegal partner UDEN.
Read Peace Corps Senegal volunteer Elida Lynch's report on the camp and see pictures by clicking here.
Elida is currently serving with the Peace Corps in Sokone and is also assisting Sisters-to-School.
WGEP Executive Director Amy Maglio returned from a 12-day trip to Senegal for the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative global conference, "E4: Engendering Empowerment: Education and Equality."
WGEP was one of the smallest programs at the conference among policy organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO and large NGOs like the Population Council, Action Aid and AED.
As such, WGEP represented the voice of grassroots initiatives that work with girls living in rural poverty--who are more likely to fall through the cracks of government and development interventions and thus are among those identified by UNGEI for necessary accelerated action if progress on girls' education is to continue worldwide.
Amy Maglio: "The UNGEI conference focused on this finding: that despite the amazing progress made in girls' education over the last decade--more than 22 million girls enrolled worldwide since 1999--the current rate of progress will still leave out 56 million children by 2015.
Most of these children will be from areas that already suffer the most neglect and deprivation, such as remote rural areas. And they are more likely than not to be girls.
I think our programs at WGEP were well-received because they address this very issue. Our work in remote, rural areas of Senegal and Kenya not only help more girls from these areas go to school, but also focus on helping them stay and succeed in school--and so also address the further issue of retention, as it has been shown that those who have been most excluded, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are more likely to drop out of school even after overcoming the obstacles to enrollment in school.
We were able to showcase the following aspects of our program at the UNGEI conference: 1) we target the exact population that is falling through the cracks of larger initiatives, 2) we have formed effective partnerships with local organizations that are smaller, community-based initiatives living and working in the communities in which we serve (our partners themselves have very limited access to other outside assistance), 3) we are able to provide a comprehensive array of services to the community -- ranging from scholarships to increase access; to community awareness activities for mothers, fathers, and community leaders to change minds and attitudes about the importance of girls education; to an alternative rite of passage program to prevent drop outs due to early marriage and pregnancy.
I made many good contacts and connections through the UNGEI conference, and I am so happy and humbled that WGEP was selected by UNGEI to be part of it! WGEP is now pursuing opportunities to link with country-wide plans in Senegal and Kenya to increase girls' education and expand our impact. Thank you for supporting our work and mission!"
Amy also visited our program in Sine-Saloum, a day-long bus ride from Dakar. WGEP has worked in the rural Sine-Saloum region since our inception in 2003. To read more about the work of Women's Global in Senegal, click here.
Data tabulated for Executive Director Amy Maglio's trip to the May 17-20 United Nations Girls' Education Initiative global conference show the impact WGEP is having in the communities where we work.
In 2009:
Thank you for supporting this life-changing work!
Copyright © Ammado AG, 2012
