There is currently a terrible drought happening in Wamba so animals are dying, people are more hungry than usual, and families are having greater difficulty coming up with school fees. The sad reality for such desperately poor families is that they are feeling forced to sell their young daughters for the dowry money so they can care for their younger children. Josphine recently talked with the principal of Tipito Girls Secondary School in Wamba, and the school has been struggling to keep the girls safe and in school. They no longer send girls home when they can’t pay, but this is causing real economic stress for the schools. Since schools are the best line of defense against child marriage, we decided to partially pay off balances for the students at Tipito combining financial need with academic performance in determining how much each girl receives. This not only helps the girls, it keeps the school afloat. 151 Tipito students received an average of about $100 in help. This was the response of Polline, the Tipito Principal:
I’m in tears Lisa! Let me call this a miracle! This will go a very long way, especially in making sure that students remain in school. Additionally, it has come at the right time since we are going through the drought season; animals are dying. In short, there was little or no hope. This was quite tough because we were in a period of no salaries for the workers for a period of 3 months. As a principal I was so stressed. We were at the point of purchasing food stuff in small quantities because we could not afford to purchase in bulk. You have given us a platform to start over. This will never be forgotten!
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