Empower to dream…Helping adolescents and young adults stay in school and work towards a bright future

One in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle, which by some estimates is the equivalent of as much as 20% of a given school year (UNESCO 2016).

Background:
The Empower to Dream project has been set up to fund provision of sanitary products to under-privileged girls aged between 14 and 18 at the Nzvimbo Government High School in the Mazowe district of Zimbabwe. In addition, to promote empowerment of both female and male students the project is also supplying a selection of non-fiction and fiction books to the school’s youth club. The books have been chosen because of their inspirational stories and positive role models: to encourage the students to expand their horizons and to help them build their dreams for the future. 

Objective:
Through the project we will be sending sanitary products to supply 300 girls for one school year. We are also sending a selection of books covering diverse empowering themes.

How you can help:
The cost of supplying 300 girls with sanitary products for 12 months has been estimated at  USD 7,500 per year. This breaks down as 1 pack of sanitary pads for USD 2.08 per girl per month. The estimated cost of sending two bundles of books is USD 600. This breaks down as 60 books at USD 10 per book. It only takes USD 25 to support a girl to attend a full school year. 

Our original goal to raise $8,100 has been achieved and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has generously contributed. We will continue to raise funds to support the school community in other ways, for example:
1) Expand the length of time we are able to support the girls, including through providing more sustainable products
2) Extend the project to another school with similar needs
3) Support an income generation project for the girls at the school

Please support one or many girls with your generous contribution by 30 April 2019.

Student leader explains the activities of the school's youth club

Leaders from the youth club meet with colleagues from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Additional project details:
This project was set up following a visit by staff from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, based in Geneva Switzerland, to the youth club of Nzvimbo Government High School in Mazowe District, Zimbabwe. The visit was part of a country mission to monitor grants funded by the Global Fund. During the visit staff spoke to students enrolled at the youth club and asked them if they could ask for anything for themselves and their classmates, what would it be. They responded that they would like sanitary products for their under-privileged classmates so that they do not need to miss school when they are menstruating, and that they would like books that are empowering for girls and provide positive role models for boys.

In response, a small group of colleagues from the Global Fund decided to raise funds to respond to this request in their personal capacity. Elise Braunschweig has set up this GoFundMe site on behalf of this group to collect donations from friends and family. She will be responsible for withdrawing the funds and for the purchase of the sanitary products and books in Switzerland. We will arrange through friends and colleagues who are visiting Zimbabwe to have the items delivered directly to the school. We are in contact with the school’s Principal directly to manage these deliveries.