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How Is GFA World Promoting Girls’ Education?

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GFA World is promoting girls’ education through their child sponsorship program. This program helps thousands of girls and boys through community-wide solutions like opportunities for education, medical care, protection against malnutrition, clean water and more. GFA World’s Child Sponsorship Program helped Sumana and her family. 1 Sumana is one of the oldest girls in her family of 7 children. In their village, Sumana’s family experienced discrimination because of their ethnicity. So, they moved to the larger city looking for a better life. In the city, Sumana’s parents began working at a carpet factory, washing, dying and weaving wool in looms. They worked long hours to boost their income, but their earnings were still insufficient. The minimum wage for daily laborers at the factories was $1.60 per day; this is not a livable wage. 1 To help her family, Sumana quit school and went to work at the carpet factory with her parents. Even with Sumana working alongside her parents, their fam
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How Can We Help Educate Girls Globally?

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Education is invaluable—it empowers girls and gives them hope, opportunity and confidence. Education also improves women’s careers and income. 1 Literate women can run businesses, sign contracts and navigate new jobs rather than toiling for low pay in fields and factories. Girls need to attend and complete school, so there are ongoing efforts to educate girls globally. A great example of the power of education is Ashima’s story. Young Ashima infrequently attended school; instead, she opted to play with her friends. Like many children in her village: her family lived in poverty, so they often could not afford books or supplies for school. A GFA-sponsored worker built relationships with adults in Ashima’s village and heard about children like Ashima leaving school because of insufficient finances. After many months, GFA World set up a child sponsorship program in Ashima’s village. Through the program, Ashima received school books and supplies and tutoring. GFA’s support renewed Ashima’s
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How Do We Fight for Girls’ Education?

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The fight for girls’ education is ongoing. UNICEF estimates that 129 million girls worldwide are not in school. 1 Some girls leave school to work alongside their family, others to become wives and mothers or simply because their families do not have the resources to send them to school. However, education is vital for development and future opportunities. Education builds confidence in girls and offers them opportunities to learn, grow and hope. If girls can graduate from secondary school, that increases their chances of working jobs with better pay than their parents and even looking for greater opportunities. Here are a few solutions we provide to help educate girls in Asia and Africa that you can be a part of: Child sponsorship — For $35/month, you can sponsor a girl in Asia or Africa. Your contribution can help girls, their families and their communities break the cycle of poverty through community-wide solutions, including opportunities for education, medical care, protection ag
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Girls’ Education

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Why is educating girls important? Education builds confidence in girls and offers them opportunities to learn, grow and hope. If girls can graduate from secondary school, that increases their chances of working jobs with better pay than their parents and even looking for greater opportunities. Girls’ education increases their future income, prevents child marriage and decreases their mortality rate. 1 Room to Read is a nonprofit that focuses on literacy and girls’ education. They argue in their annual report that “when children are educated, they are healthier. Their job opportunities improve. For every year that they stay in school, their earnings increase by 10 percent. They are more civically engaged and less dependent on social welfare. They are more likely to educate their children and break the cycle of generational poverty.” 2 Education empowers children, especially girls. However, millions of girls worldwide irregularly attend school or even drop out. Without education, many g
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How Can Illiteracy Be Solved?

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When we ask how can illiteracy be solved, we must understand the factors that promote literacy. The different factors that contribute to illiteracy can be approached in different ways. Organizations and governments are familiar with these factors, and many programs worldwide are working to solve this issue. Globally, we enjoy an 86% literacy rate, which is an incredible increase from the 12% of 1820. 1 However, there are still 773 million people who do not have enough literacy skills to complete daily tasks, such as reading street signs for public transportation. 2 The number one contributor to illiteracy is poverty, followed closely by gender bias, meaning more women than men are illiterate worldwide. 3 This means that to solve illiteracy, poverty must be addressed. If a family is merely trying to survive day to day, schooling will fall lower and lower on their list of priorities even if they understand how important it is. GFA World has two programs that impoverished families in be
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What Do Organizations Know about How to Combat Illiteracy?

When it comes to knowing how to combat illiteracy, organizations and governments have learned a lot about effective approaches both for children and adults. Children who live in poverty often have illiterate parents. Reading and writing can lead to better-paying jobs and a chance to break out of poverty. Without these skills, many parents are left doing manual day labor jobs, such as brick-making or agricultural labor in fields. Rarely are these jobs enough to maintain expenses for basic needs let alone enough to support a family in the traditional way. This is why children are often taken out of school. There is no money for school expenses, so children are left to fend for themselves at home or on the streets while their parents are at work. They may also be taken out of school to care for other siblings or even to start work themselves. This is where organizations can intervene and disrupt the cyclical nature of illiteracy by helping to keep children in school. GFA’s Child Sponsorsh
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What Are Challenges Related to Adult Learning and Literacy?

The challenges of adult learning and literacy are different than those of teaching a group of children in school who are at approximately the same level. Teaching literacy to adults must be approached with a different mindset. Here are considerations provided by Teach Reading: 1 Be empathetic and keep it simple Use high frequency words Use phonics suitable for adults Use age-appropriate stories Practice reading out loud Relate reading to real-life situations Set goals Adults already have a full plate of responsibilities when they come to the task of learning to read. They may be tired and have things on their mind. This is especially true of those caught in the cycle of poverty who come from generations of illiterate family members. Many are struggling to survive on a day-to-day basis. Providing them with opportunities to learn is essential if they or their family have any chance of escaping the straits of poverty that can bind generations. Supporting organizations that can provide the
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