Girls in Tanzania, especially those living in the Coast Region (where Kwala is located) face great barriers to education. Some of the challenges girls face include:  forced early marriage, forced withdrawal from school to help with household chores, and forced prostitution.

Understanding the Issue:

Women’s education has been well documented as a vital means of improving the social and economic well-being of a nation. Unfortunately, girls in Tanzania face more challenges and barriers to education than boys. Many families are reluctant to allow their daughters to attend secondary school because of the financial burden – secondary school costs $350 per year (including national examination fees) in a country where the annual earnings for many are $360.  As a result, many girls are pushed into early marriage – as young as 11 or 12 years old.  Other girls that start secondary school, particularly those away from their parents, have no means of support and end up providing for their own school fees and living expenses through prostitution. As could be expected in this environment, unwanted pregnancy is a major cause of girls halting their education – and their future.

Women are the future of Tanzania – girls who complete their secondary education become educated and empowered women whose own daughters are free of past vicious cycles of poor education, pregnancy and poverty.

Community Solution:

Starting with the 2009 Tanzanian school year, NTC began giving scholarships to twenty girls at Kwala Secondary School defined as “at severe risk of dropping out of school” by the female teachers at the school. The scholarships including school fees, food, uniforms, school supplies, and housing in a safe “girls only” dormitory close to the school. Individual donors in the United States were matched with a girl at Kwala, receiving updates and letters from the girls they were sponsoring. NTC was also promised by the Kwala Secondary School staff that they would work with the parents of the girls to ensure that they are saving money from their scholarship year to support the girl for her remaining years at Kwala Secondary School.

A Year to be Proud Of: Ten of the twenty girls supported by NTC have successfully graduated from Secondary school as of October 2009! They will receive their examination grades at the end of February. We wish them all the best and plan to maintain contact with them as they either continue their education or find their place within the Tanzanian work force.

The Year to Come: NTC is currently sponsoring 14 girls for the 2010 school year. 10 of the girls are continuing girls scholarship recipients, and NTC has added four new girls to the program this year! continue their education.

If you are interested in sponsoring a girl for the 2011 school year, please contact or send your donation to NTC today!

Fundraising Goal: $300.00 per girl (Click here to see the itemized budget)

• A long term solution to some of the dangers girls face in Kwala is to build a girls dormitory at Kwala Secondary School that can house all of Kwala’s girls and be supervised by an female teacher from the school.

Fundraising Goal: $50,000.00

• As of September, 2009, NTC Project Director Lisa Walker has started a weekly after school girls group at Kwala Secondary School. With this group, NTC hopes to empower the girls by providing a safe place for them to express themselves, ask questions, and obtain academic and/or personal support.

Meet the 2010 NTC Scholarship Girls

	Name: Amina Juma Form: 4 Age: 18 Prospective Occupation: Lawyer Sponsor: Lauren Hollender and friends
	Name: Angelina Charles Form: 4 Age: 19 Prospective Occupation: Pilot Sponsor: The Bialecki Family
	Name: Asha Rashidi Form: 1 Age: 15 Prospective Occupation: Nurse Sponsor: Lillian Levy
	Name: Asha Saidi Form: 4 Age: 19 Prospective Occupation: Teacher Sponsor: Bonnie Kanas
	Name: Ashura Iddi Form: 4 Age: 18 Prospective Occupation: Doctor Sponsor: Ruth Sherman and Al Kaplan
	Name: Catherine Leonald Form: 3 Age: 17 Prospective Occupation: Teacher Sponsor: Bialecki Family
	Name: Fatuma Mshangama Form: 4 Age: 18 Prospective Occupation: Human Rights Lawyer Sponsor: The Hollender Family
	Name: Mwanahamisi Ally Form: 2 Age: 17 Prospective Occupation: Nurse Sponsor: Mark and Joni Lohr
	Name: Mwanahamisi Mosses Form: 1 Age: 16 Prospective Occupation: Nurse Sponsor: Susan Vancott
	Name: Mwasiti Yahaya Form: 4 Age: 18 Prospective Occupation: Pilot Sponsor: Sara Campbell
	Name: Sharifa Masimba Form: 3 Age: 17 Prospective Occupation: Doctor or Teacher Sponsor: Robyn Belsky
	Name: Sikujua Mtema Form: 3 Age: 19 Prospective Occupation: Primary School Teacher Sponsor: Shirley Locke
	Name: Subira Mrisho Form: 2 Age: 17 Prospective Occupation: Nurse Sponsor: Susan Vancott
	Name: Zayuni Selemani Form: 4 Age: 18 Prospective Occupation: Doctor Sponsor: Seibert and Virginia Lohr