Building for the future

When a woman is educated, she educates her entire family

Education, particularly education for girls, remains the single best investment a developing society can make. As the Economist magazine reports (this article subscriber only):

As education levels rise, so do household incomes. Fertility drops, an important factor in countries where overpopulation leads to hunger and housing shortages. Infant mortality falls, and immunisation rates rise. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, 70% of young children whose mothers have a secondary education receive their vaccinations, as opposed to just 30% of those whose mothers have no formal schooling at all.

Furthermore, educated women also "raise the productive potential of an economy significantly" by establishing businesses, creating employment opportunities, and in turn educating their children to do the same.

• Better health
• Lower poverty levels
• Smaller family sizes
• Increased economic potential

All this just from keeping girls in school and enabling them to learn, to advance, to develop as self-reliant and capable young women. Which, in fact, is the mission of 10,000 Girls.

We currently have a waiting list of over seven hundred girls. And the 10,000 Girls program itself has gone from 20 to 1467 participants in less than six years.

Perhaps equally important, the education programs we have in place provide scalability. Not only can we meet our goal of 10,000 girls, but we encourage others to use what they can from the simple (but effective) policies and practices established by girls themselves. Your participation is welcome.