Amina*, a determined young woman, joined the One Girl scholarship program following her parents' separation, with her mother as her sole supporter. Her unwavering commitment to her education and her dream of becoming a lawyer, especially to support girls, was evident. She set her sights on achieving the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to fulfill the university requirements for law school – and she got in!

We recently caught up with Amina to see how she was going:

“One Girl has impacted my life through all the support they have given to me to complete school through the Girls In School program. I love that it supports girls to access and complete high school by breaking down the barriers that girls face to access formal education. I was provided with high quality school materials, monthly stipend for lunch, extra classes fee, sanitary pads, menstrual education and essential life skills training. I have not heard of any other organisation that provides the kind of full support that One Girl provides.

The Field Officers have been teaching us on One Girl’s values in every scholar meeting and “Challenge the Status Quo” has stood out for me. It is because of this I decided to attempt the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to get a university requirement to read law at Fourah Bay College. 

I passed the exam and am so excited to be enrolled in the university to read law as this has been my dream since childhood. I want to make a difference by standing out there to advocate and or defend girls and women."

Yes, Amina! We couldn’t be prouder of this smart and determined young woman.

Thanks to our incredible donors, Amina is now able to chase her dreams and choose her own future.

Through our Girls in School program in Sierra Leone (Freetown and Tonkolili) we supported 196 girls in 27 schools to access and complete secondary education by providing the following:

196 School Kits

Each of our scholars received school kits providing uniforms, shoes, stationery, school bags, textbooks. We also provided solar lights so that scholars could study after school and lunch funds for girls to buy lunch each school day. 

10 Monthly meetings

During the school year, we held monthly meetings to deliver life skills and sexual reproductive health education, including a Puberty Party.

Weekly Visits

One Girl Field Officers visited scholars weekly to provide case management support the girls in the program.

27 Focal Teachers

We employed 27 Focal Teachers to support girls with extra tuition and overcoming challenges to stay in school.

 21,240 Sanitary Pads

Thanks to our incredible One Girl community, we were able to provide 21,240 sanitary pads to help girls attend school.

 Lunch Fund

We provided Lunch Funds for girls to buy lunch each school day - for many, lunch is the only meal they will eat all day.

 13 girls graduated!

13 girls graduated from secondary school!

16 Days of Activism

Girls delivered role plays in 6 schools seen by 3,500 community members to raise awareness on gender-based violence as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence global campaign in November/December 2022.

Completed Girl Tok (level 2)

GIRLS EMERGE - UGANDA
In partnership with ARUWE (Action for Rural Women's Empowerment), we provided vocational training for young Ugandan women to learn practical, valuable skills through the Girls Emerge program!

Here's how we did this in 2022... 

200 girls completed vocational and business training:

All 200 girls were mentored in marketing, hygiene and sanitation quality assurance, accessing financial products, budgeting, and group savings and loans.

These 200 girls have begun their own business co-operatives in either beekeeping and honey production; making and selling briquettes and stoves; mobile phone repair, accessories, and mobile money kiosks; bakery providing wholesale to kiosks, shops and schools.

Each girl received training in sexual reproductive health and rights, and advocated to local health authorities for improved services, contributing to the commitment for Safe Spaces detailed below...

We opened Safe Spaces!

We opened an integrated space, named Safe Spaces, for girls and young women to go at any time to feel safer, empowered and have access to a range of services. We were able to provide free service to 667 community members, providing them with information, testing and management of family planning, HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), general health checks; psycho-social support and referrals for Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) survivors.