Our Mission

Our mission is to keep more high-achieving girls in school beyond the 4th grade in the rural South African community of Esicabazini.

About Us

 In the northeastern corner of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, dozens of girls in the remote community of Esicabazini are defying the odds stacked against them by poverty to excel and advance in school. With the help of scholarships awarded for their academic performance, these exceptional young role models are blazing a trail at eSibonisweni Primary School and Dumangeze High School for younger girls to follow.  In the process, they are changing  low expectations of girls' achievement due to cultural norms in a region where girls' domestic labor has traditionally been valued much more highly than their education.

Like so many of their classmates, some of these scholars are orphans, while most others have lost at least one parent or a close family member who had helped care for them. They strive alongside hundreds of other students (called "learners") whose families struggle to pay their school expenses. Yet despite the many difficulties they face, these young achievers have managed to earn top grades in their classes through hard work and sheer determination to succeed. Their acceptance into the program entitles them to a range of scholarship benefits, including school uniforms, sturdy shoes for walking through the rough terrain to school, backpacks, hygiene supplies, and candles and matches for studying after dark in homes without electricity.

Throughout the school year, they are guided by a dedicated team of teacher mentors who encourage them and monitor their progress, meeting with them monthly to provide enrichment activities. The mentors also meet regularly with the families or guardians of the scholars to ensure their support and keep them apprised of the girls' progress. By fulfilling the program requirements consistently across the year, girls can retain their scholarship benefits the following year.

The program offers scholarships to girls beginning in 4th grade and higher - a time when family needs and pressures often end a girl's hope for education as her labor at home is considered more useful. The tragedy is that large numbers of girls leave school just at the stage when the long-term benefits of their education begin to accelerate with each year. Thus, late primary school is a critical point of intervention, when incentives can tip families' calculations in favor of allowing girls to remain in school. The prospect of continuing benefits helps keep both girls and their families interested and engaged as they approach high school. In an area where girls drop out of school in increasing numbers with each passing year and very few graduate from high school with the qualifications required for university admission, girls need all the support they can get to continue their education beyond primary school. Our programs are designed with these realities in mind.