News

GIRLS LEADING OUR WORLD INITIATIVES (IGLOW)

TRANSFORMING RURAL GIRLS LIVES, THEIR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

Reaching the most vulnerable girls in the most rural and high poverty regions

According to UNESCO estimates, 130 million girls between the age of 6 and 17 are out of school and 15 million girls of primary-school age—half of them in sub-Saharan Africa— will never enter a classroom. Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms and practices, poor infrastructure, violence, and fragility. It is for these reasons that IGLOW invests in girls education. Below find the stories of the girl’s we support including the challenges they are overcoming as they pursue their education. Note that their names have been altered to protect their identities.

Polly

has received IGLOW support since 2012. While in class 6 her mother got sick. Polly and her young sister were the main caregivers. Her mother died in 2016, the same year her Dad returned but then ran away. IGLOW has supported Polly and her sister from primary school to date.

In 2016 Polly was the top girl in the county when she sat for her national examination, thus qualifying for non-IGLOW scholarship through the government. IGLOW has continued to support her by paying for extra needs that her scholarship does not cover, e.g medical, upkeep, food, uniform etc. Polly graduated at the top of her class in high school in 2019 with a mean grade of A. She looks forward to joining the university. Her younger sister who is closely following on her footstep joined one of the best high schools 2019.

Salina

is 14 years old. Her mum died immediately after giving birth to her. Her father on the other hand died in a tragic road accident before she was born. Growing up, Salina had to live with various relatives and was used as a maid(house help) by many of them.

She also fetched water for hotels to earn money to feed herself. Through IGLOW support, Salina is now in her second year in High School.

Lina

is a 15year old girl in her third year of Highschool. Her mum is a person with disability; Lina has never known her dad. While growing up she received a lot of abuse and rejection from her step father who later died. She has been under IGLOW academic support for the past 3 years.

Alice

was born in 2003 HIV positive. She got the disease while in her mother’s womb. Her mum died when Alice was 2 years old.She aspires to be a doctor and through IGLOW support is in her first year of high school.

Betty

is a 14year old girl. She is partial orphan and comes from a very poor family. She had been hawking foodstuffs at the bus station in order to pay for her school levies, sometimes she used to do other people’s laundry. IGLOW has supported her from 2018, she is now in her second year of high school.

Naomi

was born in 2006. Her mother disappeared during the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya, she has never been seen since. Naomi and her sister live with her grandmother. IGLOW’s pays for her meals, upkeep and boarding so that she can finish her last year of primary school and proceed to High School and university. Naomi wants to be a Banker.