September 25, 2018
Dorm Fire: Update
As I write this, it is just over five weeks since a devastating fire ripped through the girls’ dormitory at the Kitenga School for Girls. If you’re hearing this news for the first time after your summer holiday – it’s true. A fire broke out at night, everyone escaped unharmed, but the damage was extensive…
Read More
September 25, 2018
Launch a Leader is Launched!
The transition from sub-par government schools taught in Swahili to the Kitenga Secondary School for Girls (KSSG) where classes are taught in English can be daunting for students. Together, leaders at GEC and the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa developed a pilot program that is designed to help students get up to speed before the…
Read More
December 13, 2017
Getting Stronger by the Day
About 43 weeks over the course of 76 months (that’s six years plus change) – that’s the number of days I have spent in Tanzania forming a partnership and building a remarkable school with the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa. About 85% of those days were spent chiseling a castle from a rock, shaping a…
Read More
October 9, 2017
Meet Kitenga’s ICT and Biology Teacher: Mr. Nigo
Hi everyone! Emily M Louis here, just wanting to give a proper introduction for this post. I have had the great pleasure of being able to get to know Mr. Claud Masanja Nigo via email the past few months. It sort of feels like having a penpal again! I have to tell you, that he…
Read More
June 23, 2017
What Could Be More Epic?
May 24th, 2017 was the Dedication/Inauguration/celebration, of the opening of the Kitenga School For Girls. May 24th was an epic day. Why? For so many reasons: Mother Nature rested her harsh rains; the new campus looked beautiful and the ceremonial tents, like a fairytale castle. The program demonstrated the girls’ passion, devotion and pride in their…
Read More
June 5, 2017
The Dedication of Kitenga School For Girls
The day stated around 10:00am with a Mass. A choir from Utegi came to sing and it was very joyful. Around midday the school was officially inaugurated and the ribbon was cut by Sister Bernadette, the school nurse. The priests, sisters and rest of the crowd went through each building to bless the school: science…
Read More
May 22, 2017
WBFO Features Opening of Kitenga School for Girls
The Girls Education Collaborative continues to support the education of young women in developing countries. WBFO’s senior reporter Eileen Buckley met with the organization’s executive director, Anne Wadsworth, who is now in Tanzania, for the grand opening of a new school supporting girls’ education. Listen now.
Read More
March 14, 2017
“Betsy’s House, truly a dream come to life”- Shelby Deck
It must have been the hyenas. On my first night in Betsy’s House, I could hear them out there in the dark talking about their day in their unique howling “Whrrrooooooooooop” noise. Switching off my solar lantern, I lay there thinking #1, this is just SO cool and #2 about my own day and the…
Read More
March 8, 2017
IWD: The Rights Women in the West Take for Granted Are Still a Dream in Tanzania
This International Women’s Day, we implore you to truly think internationally. The rights we western women have enjoyed for decades are not yet guaranteed to women and girls in towns and villages in countries all over the world. While we fight for equal pay, stature and opportunity, women in other countries are just beginning to…
Read MoreDecember 21, 2016
Female Genital Mutilation and What We Can Do To Stop It
I recently returned from Kitenga, Tanzania, where our organization, Girls Education Collaborative (GEC), is working with a community-led initiative to create more opportunities for girls through education. Days after returning to the US, I turned around to leave for Washington, DC to participate in the first US Summit to End Violence Against Girls. While in…
Read More