March for Girl's Education!

We are all about girl’s education. Women who participate in our program are taught the importance of girl's education and are equipped with the resources they need to send girls in their families to school. We believe this will have a profound impact in the developing world. Recognizing our contribution to girl's and women’s education throughout the northern part of the country, the Ugandan government invited a delegation from Krochet Kids Uganda to speak at a community-wide march aptly named “Go to School, Back to School, Stay in School.” We were given a special time during the opening ceremonies to address the crowd. We sent a group of program graduates to the march and asked them to share about the tangible social impacts that have resulted from their personal investment in girl’s education. Two in particular stuck out: Akullu Winny, who graduated from the Krochet Kids Uganda earlier this year shared about the sacrifices she is making now to reap the long-term rewards of investing in girl's education. She used the income she earned at KKU to put her two sisters through college, and in a country where less then 4% of people have studied beyond high school, Winny’s sisters now have a great advantage. Winny plans on following in her sisters' shoes when she is done paying for their education. She wants to get a degree in business administration so she can run a her own business. Lamunu Faith used her time to encourage young girls attending the march to not give up on education, even if it means getting creative. Rather than using her savings to go back to high school, she decided to pursue a vocational course that provided her with the skills she needed to find a job in the local economy. She cashed in her savings and enrolled in a cooperative course that trained her how to manage savings groups. She now is part of a team that manages the KKU Employee SACCO, a cooperative that has given out over $80,000 in loans over the last two years. Last month's march was a great reminder of the power women have to impact their communities for the better. Faith, Winny and the other graduates of the program who spoke at the march were an inspiration to the group of young girls who attended the event, many of whom currently experience the same challenges that hindered the graduates progress through school. Their determination not to be defined by their circumstances and culture will continue to have a profound impact on future generations of women. They are living proof that the adage is true: when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.