Nose Above Water

It's hard to be a tweenage girl in Zambia

Our Girls' Achievement Program (GAP) is taking big strides toward keeping girls in school.  Not an easy task in Zambia!  Caregivers want girls to help out at home, older boys entice them to move in with them, girls get pregnant, etc. We're working to counteract those forces by making our GAP program so much fun that the girls work hard to stay in school so they can attend.

A recent NPR radio special verified our concerns.  According to NPR by the 5th grade, school drop out rate in Zambia is 3 times higher for girls than boys.  If they don't drop out, most girls don't make it on to 8th grade because they can't afford the government school fees. We're working on that too by providing scholarships.

Interesting...in the US it's illegal to keep your kids out of school.  In Zambia, you have to pay to keep them in school!!