In communities worldwide, the challenges faced by young girls in accessing education and staying in school are often multifaceted. Factors such as early marriages, pregnancies, or simply lacking the necessary support structures can significantly derail a girl's educational journey. However, initiatives like the Girls Get Equal (GGE) project have been instrumental in providing crucial interventions to address these issues and empower young girls to pursue their education with resilience.
Prior to the intervention of the Girls Get Equal project, communities like Lujeri faced significant challenges in keeping female students in school. Girls like Lucy Jeke, who found themselves entangled in relationships that led to dropping out of school, represented just one aspect of the broader issue. The absence of adequate psychosocial support mechanisms meant that many girls struggled to navigate the complexities of their circumstances, often resulting in missed educational opportunities and uncertain futures.
Doroth Solomon, Chairperson of the Mother Group, reflects on the situation before the GGE intervention: "We were trained on how best we can reach out to students who dropped out of school and then find out the reasons as to why they dropped out of school. Then the chief from the community is involved to advise the students who dropped out of school on the importance of working hard in their education rather than dropping out of it."
Lucy Jeke, a standard 7 student who dropped out due to a relationship, recalls her experience: "I started realizing that the male student who got selected to the community day secondary school would not even think about me after a while and he may end up being involved in a relationship with other female students there and even not think about me."
Following the intervention of the Girls Get Equal project, the landscape began to shift in Lujeri and similar communities. With targeted training on psychosocial support provided to mother groups, there emerged a newfound capacity to address the root causes of dropout and provide essential support to vulnerable students like Lucy Jeke. Through home visits, counseling sessions, and community engagement, the mother group, alongside school authorities, facilitated the return of girls to school and equipped them with the resilience needed to overcome challenges.
Doroth Solomon highlights the impact of the intervention: "We have managed to provide psychosocial support to a total of 63 female students with psychosocial support from Lujeri primary school who were at risk of dropping out of school."
Lucy Jeke expresses gratitude for the support received: "The mother group assisted me to return back to school and how she is able to cope up with her education."
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