Empower Voices
During the Covid lockdown over the last almost 2 years, it became more apparent the huge inequalities that girls face in Uganda. Girls and women faced many challenges during the various lockdowns, and many preteen/teen girls ended up in forced marriages or pregnant.
As a result, we started Empower Voices in partnership with a local, rural school to equip girls in Primary Grade 6(ages 10-14) with the tools and information they need to thrive. The school provides us with the space and an hour in the school day to carry out the lessons.
Reproductive Health
Entrepreneurship
The entrepreneurship portion teaches the basics of business: creating business plans, budgeting, saving, marketing skills, etc. At the end of the business training, the girls receive a start up capital of roughly $3 to start a small business.
The aim is to teach the girls that;
- To save and if they reinvest wisely, they grow their incomes
- Test the skills they learned
- Start learning about money and saving at a young age
- They don’t have to stay in unhealthy/unsafe relationships due to financial dependence
The program is currently running in one school with 16 girls enrolled. We hope to expand it to other schools in the future.
