Empowering girls

[pegkerr]

Found this link at Twitter today, a collection of photographs submitted to the New York Times that illustrate the importance of educating girls and empowering women. Accompanying article is here.

One of the photos led me to the website Wiser Girls, which tells the story of a remarkable international partnership which has just opened the first secondary education boarding school for girls in Muhuru Bay, Kenya.

In Muhuru Bay, only 5% of girls finish secondary school. WISER works to provide educational expertise and financial resources so more girls, particularly orphans, can realize their potential as individuals and live with respect and dignity without having to struggle alone.

WISER’s initial project is in Muhuru Bay on Lake Victoria in Nyanza Province. The 2007 Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey lists the HIV prevalence rate in Nyanza at 15%, the highest in the country. The National AIDS Control Council as well as local leaders report that the prevalence in Muhuru Bay is at least 38%, most likely due to its location on Lake Victoria. Coastal and fishing communities account for a significant part of the HIV cases in Kenya due to high rates of transactional sex associated with the fishing industry and culture. The majority of these transactional sex events involve adolescent or pre-adolescent girls who are in need of sugar daddies. The girls themselves talk openly about the need to ‘make friends’ with either fishermen or teachers to get by and are often encouraged to do so by their parents in order to receive funds, school books, or supplies. As one secondary school said about studying, “When you ask a girl to light the lamp, she tells you she is tired. If we cannot light the lamp, we just sit. (But) if you become friends, you can do so many things.”

In the last nineteen years, not a single girl who has attended high school in Muhuru Bay has qualified for college entrance exams, while boys meet the requirements every year. Primary school in Kenya is free as of 2003, but most families in Muhuru have trouble paying for secondary school. In the few instances where families can afford it, boys are usually given first priority. At the existing Rabwao Secondary school, only 40 out of 250 spots were filled by girls. Many girls seeking a secondary education are forced to have sex with teachers, fishermen from Lake Victoria and others in the community in order to get the money for school fees. Selesia, a fifteen year old at Rabwao told us, "If I stop having sex with my male teacher he will stop paying my school fees." Beatrice, a sixteen year old, complained, “Boys and men take my private parts as their toys." Because of the enormous risks girls take to get an education in Muhuru, a full generation of women has failed to graduate and go on to university.

Through multiple programs WISER is addressing the egregious social and emotional burdens on girls and women, while also working to involve male stakeholders in valuing gender parity.

This inspirational video about the school's opening, after five years of planning, brought tears to my eyes. I've syndicated feeds for the school's blog, wisergirls at Livejournal and wisergirls_feed at Dreamwidth. You can donate to help send a girl to school here.