Empowering Young Mothers Through Secondary Education and Childhood Care

Help young Tanzanian mothers complete their secondary education in order to provide a better future for themselves and their children.

Did you know?

Pregnancy is the leading reason why young Tanzanian women are unable to complete their education.
Pregnant women in Tanzania are expelled from school and stigmatized in society.
The majority is denied access to return and continue their education in formal schools.
2/3 of Tanzanians believes the girl is to blame if she becomes pregnant while in school.
Lack of adequate, low-cost childcare further hinders young mothers from their education.
A 2013 report by the United Nations Population Fund revealed Tanzania may be losing out on $5.2 billion per year in economic activity from teenage girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy.
The average cost of secondary school tuition in Tanzania is USD 200-300 per year, despite 68% of Tanzanians living below the international poverty line of USD 1.25 per day.
A secondary education certificate is a key requirement for employment in Tanzania, paving the way for a full and dignified life.

But there is another way!

We have a solution – a crowd-sourced solution – to provide a secondary school education and childhood care centre for this under-served community of young mothers who were expelled from school due to pregnancy.

Because if all women completed basic education, 66% less mothers would die in childbirth and the mortality rate in children under five years old would fall by 15%.

How it works

Key benefits

AFFORDABLE: Our program will boast an annual tuition fee is that is at least 20% cheaper than comparable programs in Mwanza, Tanzania.
SUPPORTIVE: We will provide onsite daycare and daily snack services for young mothers and their children at no additional cost.
INNOVATIVE: The combination of an affordable secondary school education program, onsite daycare and daily snack services results in an innovative and comprehensive solution for young Tanzanian mothers and their children.

Education for Better Living Organization (EBLI), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Mwanza, Tanzania, is well positioned to make this new program successful. Why?

On-campus presence reaching 10,000 secondary school students per year with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and behavior change process (BCP) trainings.
Existing clientele of 100 young mothers per year who benefit from EBLI computer literacy and business skills training.
Track record of results in education, raising the employed/self-employed rate of young mothers by +175% (28% employed to 77%) and their average monthly income by +2,000% (USD 2.61 monthly income to USD 55.00).
Initiated saving and loaning groups for young mothers that have distributed USD 4,208 in business start-up/expansion loans after just six months of activity.
Six years of experience operating as an NGO serving young people in Mwanza, Tanzania.
Local (Tanzania) and international (USA, Switzerland, Korea) staff with a wealth of expertise in program management, teaching, health education, youth and children counseling, and economic empowerment.

The mission of EBLI is to decrease the number of Tanzanian girls who drop out of secondary school due to pregnancy and increase the capacity of young mothers who do leave school early for employment/self-employment in order to secure a healthy future for themselves and their children. Investing in education and early childhood care is a powerful way to lift these young mothers and their children out of poverty and exclusion, and into a more dignified life and a healthier future.

Young mothers cannot do anything to change their yesterday,

but we can help them today to change their tomorrow.

MAKE A DONATION TO THIS CROWD FUNDING PROJECT TODAY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

It is not about what we are doing for them.

It is about what we are doing with them.

Our Project Team

Bernard Makachia (Tanzania), Executive Director: Founder of EBLI and a community development consultant with vast experience in project start-up and implementation.

Lucy Meta (Tanzania), Finance Manager: Single mother with a post-graduate diploma in finance and accounting complimented by years of experience in those fields at the NGO level.

Michael Leen (USA), Program Assistant: Volunteer with professional experience in brand management, entrepreneurship and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, who leads economic empowerment initiatives for young Tanzanian mothers.

Song Yoo (South Korea), Youth Counselor: Volunteer who assists in counseling and leadership development for young mothers and their children.

Tobias Peltenburg (Switzerland), Project Governance: Development worker with a background in finance, economics and business, who oversees administration of this project.