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In February 2010, these thirty girls aged 12-16 from two wards of Morogoro municipality began classes at the
Sega Girls School, funded by Nurturing Minds. The year-long day program “Tunarudi Shuleni” (“We’re
Going Back to School”) is helping these 30 girls, who formerly dropped out of school due to poverty, orphanhood, or
related crises, get back into the formal school system. After many months of intensive English, math, Kiswahili
and general knowledge subjects, the girls will sit for the Standard VII exam, marking the end of primary school, and making
them eligible for entry into secondary school. This group
of girls in uniform pictured below, graduated from the remedial program in November 2009. They began 8th grade/secondary
school in January 2010 at the Sega Girls School, and are our first class to occupy the new all-purpose building
which acommodates 28 boarders and 30 additioanl day students.
The Need Due
to poverty, many girls drop out of school before they even finish primary (elementary) school. In some cases they lose
their parents to Malaria, HIV/AIDS or other diseases. Others are just too poor to afford uniforms, books or transport to school.
Others have such a high burden of household chores at home, or in someone elses home, working to support themselves, that
there is no time for school. Selection
Even though the program
only recruited girls from two wards of one district, and had narrow parameters of eligibility (those who dropped out between
5th and 7th grades, below age 16), over 60 girls applied to the program. With funds enough for only 30 girls to attend,
the selection process was very tough. All of the girls who applied had dropped out of school before the end of 7th grade,
and were in genuine need of getting a quality education. We had to choose the final 30 based on a series of interviews,
home visits and exams. Only girls who had no other options available to return to school (e.g. their families were simply
too poor to afford decent food, transport or uniforms at a public school); and who were passionate about wanting to go back
to school were chosen. Thank You
Nurturing Minds and SEGA would like
to thank the Mkundi Primary School and community for lending us a classroom for our program, and for providing much support
during the recruitment and selection process. Thank you also to the Safina Women’s Association, who rented us
their buses on a cost-basis to transport our students until we can by our own buses. A very big THANK YOU to all of
you who have donated funds to Nurturing Minds and SEGA to make this program possible. We are well on our way to expanding The Sega Girls School campus!
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| October 2008, Our Day Program Students |
Donate Now to Make A Dream Come True
for a Tanzanian Girl. Thank You!
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