The chance to learn

How you're supporting education

The difference your donations make

When girls don’t get a chance to go to school, they lose crucial opportunities to improve their lives through knowledge and expertise that will help them secure jobs and income.

They also miss out on a host of life skills and tools that help them navigate the world and make authentic choices about their own lives. This is why ActionAid’s approach to education is so important.

Thanks to you Samia, from Tanzania, is going to school in a newly built classroom

Thanks to supporters like you, we are helping women and girls around the world to receive the education that they are entitled to. Your support is helping women and girls to create long term change - not only for themselves, but for their whole community.

Read on to see different examples of our work around the world, which show the difference you're making to the education of women and girls.

Thanks to you Samia, from Tanzania, is going to school in a newly built classroom

Thank you for helping Diane, in Burundi, to return to school and finish her education

"My education stopped when my parents were unable to afford to send me to school," explains 23-year-old Diane from Burundi.

"My future looked uncertain until ActionAid invited me to attend business skills training which was aimed at young women like myself who had left school without finishing their education.

"I learned how to progress my income-generating ideas.

Thanks to your support, 33 young women in Diane’s community have learned new business skills, helping them transform their futures

"Thanks to the skills learned from ActionAid, I now have three goats, one pig, seven piglets and four rabbits which I bought using a small loan I borrowed from my village cooperative.

"Using the manure from my livestock, I grow bananas and use them to make banana-based products which I sell to earn an income.

Earning an income means Diane can continue with her education. Thanks to a small loan from the village cooperative, Diane is earning her own income

"My life is so different now. I can afford to cover my own expenses and I am back at school. I am also contributing to my siblings’ school needs so we can all finish our education.

"None of this would have been possible without the support of ActionAid – thank you!"

Thanks to your support, 33 young women in Diane’s community have learned new business skills, helping them transform their futures

Earning an income means Diane can continue with her education. Thanks to a small loan from the village cooperative, Diane is earning her own income

You're helping to provide school kits for children in Haiti

"When back-to-school time came, my parents were often worried whether they could afford to send me and my siblings to school, even though my dad is a farmer and my mum works at the market," says Gerena, 10, who lives in Haiti.

Despite primary education being free in Haiti, many children miss school because their parents can’t afford to buy the stationery, books, and school bags they need.

Gerena received one of 900 school kits thanks to supporters like you

Thanks to supporters like you, we have distributed more than 900 school kits in Gerena’s area.

"I can’t tell you how glad I am to have some brand-new school materials. Now I have this kit, my parents no longer have to worry," says Gerena.

Gerena received one of 900 school kits thanks to supporters like you

Thank you for helping Joyce, in Malawi, to protect the education of young girls

"Greetings from Malawi! My name is Joyce, I am 38 years old and live with my husband and four children.

"As in the rest of the world, the schools closed when the coronavirus pandemic reached Malawi. As families started to struggle to feed their children because they had lost their jobs, we saw a sharp increase in the number of girls (who should have been in school) getting married.

"I am part of an ActionAid-supported Mothers’ Group and we made it our mission to protect as many girls as we could.

Thanks to Joyce, a member of an ActionAid-supported mothers’ group, illegal under-age marriages have been dissolved and girls are back in school

"We held meetings with community leaders, teachers, and parents to raise awareness of the Child Protection Bill which does not allow anyone to marry under the age of 18 here in Malawi.

"We also discussed with them the rights of girls and their right to an education.

"I am delighted to tell you that 62 girls under the age of 18 have had their marriages dissolved and their parents are now fully supportive of their education. This makes me so proud."

Thanks to Joyce, a member of an ActionAid-supported mothers’ group, illegal under-age marriages have been dissolved and girls are back in school

You're helping to provide children in Nepal with improved school facilities

"Our school building was old and dilapidated. The roof looked like it could fall in at any time and the worry made it difficult for me to concentrate on my lessons," 12-year-old Prem from Nepal tells us.

"During the monsoon season, rainwater would leak into the classroom onto the desks and chairs. The situation became worse after the earthquake in 2015, which also affected our water supply; I would often fall sick from drinking the unsafe water.

"When ActionAid came to our school, they built new classrooms and equipped them with computers, installed a water purifier and improved our playground.

Thanks to your support over 980 students, including Prem (left), are benefitting from newly constructed classrooms

"Best of all, we now have lots of sports materials and we can learn computer skills. I never liked going to school, but now it is completely different.

Niruta is excited to learn using the computer at her school

"On behalf of all the children at my school, we’d like to thank you for saving our school and making it a completely different and a better place."

Thanks to your support over 980 students, including Prem (left), are benefitting from newly constructed classrooms

Niruta is excited to learn using the computer at her school

You’re supporting girls in Sierra Leone to stay in school and follow their dreams

"I grew up understanding that my brothers would go to school and receive an education and I would marry and have children," says Martha, aged 12, from Sierra Leone.

"It was the accepted norm that girls didn’t go to school. If there were chores to be done before school, I had to do them even if it made me late for school.

"When money was tight, my brothers' school fees were paid before mine. They received their books first too.

Baindu, Martha and Fatu (left to right) have learned that they have the same rights as boys to receive an education

"ActionAid has been holding workshops in my village helping people understand that us girls are as important as the boys.

"I have learned that I have as much right as my brothers to go to school and receive an education, and marry when I am older.

"ActionAid also provided each child in my school with a school bag, pens, pencils and all the books we needed, so when money was tight, I no longer missed out on my lessons.

Martha (third from left, with her family) is determined to complete her education

"I like going to school every day, it makes me happy. My favourite subject is mathematics. I am motivated to study hard and pass all my exams as I want to be an accountant.

"Thank you for helping us to stay in school so we can follow our dreams."

Baindu, Martha and Fatu (left to right) have learned that they have the same rights as boys to receive an education

Martha (third from left, with her family) is determined to complete her education

Built in 1975, Samia’s school in Tanzania was in a poor state of repair.

Thanks to your support, the community worked together and lobbied the government to repair the school.

The hard work of parents, teachers and village leaders paid off and the local school was repaired.

You're ensuring girls in Tanzania have better, safer places to learn

"My school only had seven classrooms for over 1,000 students. Three of the classrooms were too dangerous to go into; others had cracked walls," says 12-year-old Samia from Tanzania.

Samia’s mother is a member of a Reflection Action Circle, which ActionAid helped to establish in her community.

These groups provide women with the opportunity to come together, discuss the issues they and their children face, and access training and support to resolve them, as Samia explains:

Samia (second from right) and her classmates can now enjoy their newly built classroom

"While attending the meetings, my mother learned that the government had a responsibility to provide us with a good learning environment.

"With ActionAid’s support, the parents, school management committee, teachers as well as village leaders came together to raise awareness of the poor condition of our school. Their lobbying of the local government paid off and I am very happy to tell you that we have two new classrooms and the others have been repaired, giving us a total of nine classrooms.

Samia can now enjoy the comfort of sitting at a desk in the newly built classroom

"ActionAid has provided us with desks and chairs, so we no longer have to sit on the floor or be outside. It makes reading and writing so much nicer now.

"I am very happy attending school now because the new classrooms allow us to learn in a clean and comfortable space. This has changed the future in our journey of education.

"Me and my fellow pupils are enjoying the new classrooms and desks – thank you!"

Samia (second from right) and her classmates can now enjoy their newly built classroom

Samia can now enjoy the comfort of sitting at a desk in the newly built classroom

You're providing safe, clean water for rural schools in Zimbabwe

"The borehole at my school was broken, which meant I would miss lessons while collecting water from a borehole further away," says 12-year-old Forget, from Zimbabwe.

"I am so thankful that ActionAid fixed our water pump - now we can collect water right outside the classroom, so I don’t miss any of my lessons anymore.

Forget no longer misses lessons collecting water now the borehole has been fixed

"Now that we have access to water, we have started to grow beans at school!"

Watering the beans grown at school is easy now the borehole has been repaired

Thanks to supporters like you, over 900 children from five different schools in this rural area of Zimbabwe now have access to safe, clean water and they are no longer missing their lessons.

Forget no longer misses lessons collecting water now the borehole has been fixed

Watering the beans grown at school is so easy now the borehole has been repaired

Watering the beans grown at school is easy now the borehole has been repaired

Thank you so much for making these amazing stories possible.

^{If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call our friendly Supporter Care team on 01460 238000, or email supportercontact@actionaid.org.}

_{Images: ActionAid/Questamène Cénor; Divya Shah/ActionAid; Sarah Kadie Ahmed/ActionAid; Elvis Augustin/ActionAid.}

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