We learned how difficult it was for girls in Sierra Leone to receive their full education, with very few girls ever making it to university, much less secondary school.  Girls end up missing a lot of school due to :

1) their duties as water fetchers. Children globally spend 200 million hours each day fetching water from far away sources)

 

2) due to illness from contaminated water

 

3) due to the challenges of menstruation -- feeling unwell

- not having access to or being to afford the right products or hygiene facilities

- from the stigmas/embarrassment related to having their period

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As a result of missing a lot of school, many girls will simply drop out altogether, some before secondary school, getting married early and continuing the cycle of poverty. 

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Even if girls are very motivated to finish school despite the challenges, university fees are often beyond reach for them.  We wanted to help start a scholarship fund which would help one of those motivated girls to attend university in the country. We hope that this gesture of support will change the future for good for one girl each year, and that her university education could help her to have positive impacts on her community. 

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