Educate and Empower Women and Girls
Educating women and girls lifts households, communities and nations out of poverty.
However, in Rwanda, when a family has limited funds to pay school fees, the boys go to school and the girls stay home.
Since 2018, Hands of Mothers has been implementing two high impact education initiatives to address the increasing lack of access to education among vulnerable women and children, especially girls:
- A school fees program to enable children to attend school. School in Rwanda is not free and when forced to choose, boys are generally selected to attend rather than girls. We are currently funding 162 children in pre-k through high school and are assisting 2 university students that are graduates of our program.
- A women's literacy/numeracy education program. This is a necessary first step in our entrepreneurship training and cooperative development programs. There are currently 10 women enrolled in literacy/numeracy training, all of whom are trying to escape from sex work and find safe, legal and sustainable forms of income generation.
In August, 2022, Hands of Mothers launched an innovative one-month English Language Summer School to support our 75 high school students struggling in school as all classes - starting in 1st grade - are now taught in English. In January, 2023, we opened the doors to our English Language Library conveniently housed within our office and open 6 days per week. Your help is needed to fill our shelves with books that are culturally sensitive and relevant to all levels of readers.
The success of these initiatives depends upon your generosity! Please consider a donation on behalf of a Rwandan mother struggling to support her family or to a daughter dreaming of a better future.
Thank you!