April 10, 2024
Building Relationships and Impact: A Visit to Tanzania with GEC, February 2024
At the heart of GEC’s work is relationship building. Once established, a relationship creates the firmest foundation for collaborations that solve problems and/or seize opportunity. The deeper and more stable the relationship, the more dynamic and sustainable the collaboration. The purpose of such, is to work towards the shared vision of a world where no…
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October 11, 2023
Voices of Kitenga: Peres Munanka’s Inspiring Path to Advocacy
After graduating from KGSS in 2020 with the school’s pioneer class, Peres Munanka didn’t take any time off between lower and upper secondary school. Instead, she went onto become GEC’s very first Kitenga volunteer. At that time, she remarked that she was “happy to volunteer to work with GEC because it is a passion…to see…
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April 27, 2022
It Takes a Village: Mr. Mugabo Mkama
Mr. Mugabo Mkama is Second Master at Kitenga Girls Secondary School (KGSS), where he teaches physics and mathematics. Originally from Musoma in the Mara region of Tanzania, Mr. Mugabo has been at KGSS since 2018. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he is responsible for organizing different activities, maintaining discipline of the school, and data….
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March 30, 2022
Kitenga Trip Reflection
This past February, I visited Kitenga Girls Secondary School for the first time. Like so many workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been working remotely for GEC for the past 6 months. I definitely got some crazy looks from friends and family when I told them I was meeting my boss, Anne, for the…
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May 11, 2021
Female Genital Mutilation: How Education Can Break the Cycle of Tradition
Peres Munanka, a teenage activist from Tanzania, discusses female genital mutilation and how to break the cycle of tradition. My name is Peres Munanka, I am a young girl of 17 years old from a tribe that practices female genital mutilation. But I thank God that my parents never saw the benefits of this practice…
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March 22, 2017
Taste of Tanzania 2017
Taste of Tanzania is back! Join us for Girls Education Collaborative’s 2nd annual Taste of Tanzania! Tuesday, May 2 | 6:00- 8:30pm | 3275 Elmwood Avenue | Tonawanda, NY | 14217 Enjoy a buffet-style authentic Tanzanian dinner, featuring a marketplace of local venders, a basket raffle, and vibrant African music. PURCHASE TICKETS HERE Patron (‘Special friend of…
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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 MoreDecember 7, 2016
Girls Being Girls in Kitenga
Dear Friends, I have recently returned from an almost three week stay in Tanzania. It was a trip like none other. For the first time since five years ago, when GEC became a part of this incredible project, there were girls on campus- living in the dorms. Attending classes. Doing homework under solar lanterns. Playing…
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