Youth pregnancy and motherhood results in many social and economic consequences, including social stigma, discrimination, and often poverty. Unfortunately, laws prevent pregnant girls and young mothers from remaining in school, closing off the ability to improve their education, lessening the opportunity to improve their economic wellbeing. This policy often merely reinforces shame and social exclusion. In November 2018, the World Bank pulled $300 million in aid funding from the Tanzanian government due to their unease with the country’s barriers to girls’ education that the policy represented. Unfortunately, in 2021, there still hasn’t been much improvement by government in funding education access for girls. Agape Frontiers is helping by bringing these girls to a school where they can learn, live in safety and receive the support they need to acheive a bright future.
Agape Knowledge Open School came into existence in 2012 when a couple of girls were found after being expelled from school after becoming pregnant [without consent] and they had a strong desire to continue and finish their education. John Myola, the founder, felt compelled to help the girls, but also understanding the government policies in these situations began to look more detailed into the issues and found more girls at risk. AKOS began to build over the years to the point where they were able to build a school where the girls could live and learn together. The ongoing issues with girls facing child pregnancy, GBV, and forced marriage the number of girls continues to grow forcing AKOS to limit the students at the school and turn away the others. With your support, we can grow the facilities and allow for a larger number of girls that we can help.
Tanzanian officials have often argued that they do not have a policy that expressly says pregnant or married girls cannot go to school. However, https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/06/14/leave-no-girl-behind-africa/discrimination-education-against-pregnant-girls-and, which state that “the expulsion of a pupil from school may be ordered where … a pupil has … committed an offence against morality” or “entered into wedlock.” The policy does not explain what offenses against morality are, but school officials often interpret pregnancy as such an offense. There is no accurate data, but different sources estimate that thousands of girls have been affected by the policy. The World Bank estimates 5,500 pregnant students stop going to school every year, although previous estimates indicate that close to 8,000 students have been forced to drop out of school each year.
As an NGO, we pride ourselves on the work we accomplish and what we give back to the community. The girls education and livelyhood is the most important thing we can do. But we need your help to be successful, any donation of any size is needed as we strive to do the best we can for these girls. We have outlined many projects for both Capital and Operational Funding, feel free to peruse our lists and then reach out. We will answer any question regarding these projects you might have and rest asured that we will place your donation towards the project of your choice.
