Education keeps girls away from early marriage, builds self-esteem, and prepares them for a life of opportunity,

yet some 129 million girls around the world are kept from school by gender bias, household labor, insecurity, lack of

girls' toilets, hunger, and poverty. In Malawi, home to our A Girl and A Bike program, 10 percent of girls are married before

they turn 15. In Nepal, where we support girls like Rojina, Kabita and Munni (above left), not being in school makes

young women much more vulnerable to being trafficked into the sex trade. Congolese girls (upper right) not only receive scholarships, shoes and backpacks, but also food - to provide them with breakfast so they have the energy to go to school.  

 

Want to help?!

NCP's Give a Girl a Chance fund supports girls' education in Myanmar, Nepal, Congo, South Sudan, 

Rwanda and Malawi.

 

Examples of annual costs to educate a girl

DR Congo  $100: scholarship; shoes/backpack with supplies: $15/$35; hygienic materials: $36; breakfast: $25

Myanmar  $80: scholarship and food (current recipients in photo at right)

South Sudan  an average of $150 per girl for a scholarship, uniform and hygienic materials

Chepang girls (Nepal)  $200 per girl, plus one new dress per year ($20)

​

Chepang girls at a crossroads

For girls we met from a Chepang ethnic village in the mountains of southern Nepal, fifth grade was

going to be the end of the line. Not only is there a 7-hour roundtrip walk down the mountain to get to

secondary school - they could handle that - but their families couldn't afford the $200 it would take to

support them at this next level. In situations like this, these young women are vulnerable to early

marriage (as young as 13 or 14) or even being trafficked.

    NCP launched a special fund-raising campaign to keep the first five girls in school beyond fifth grade,

then 11 more graduated the next year and there are 15 additional grads in 2024. This is a challenge,

especially as this is a commitment to keep them in school through 10th grade @ $200 per girl per year.

    So we'll hope to keep helping these girls as a special NCP campaign. Find more info and ways to

contribute here. 

​

200 miles for an education

                                                   

                                                     On our May '23 Learning Tour to South Sudan we met these young women. They had traveled to NCP-                                                       built Queensland Girls’ School in Nimule from their homes 200 miles away, fleeing violence                                                                         and gender bias. “In our village, people were being killed like houseflies,” Idia told us.                                                                              “To try to keep us safe, our parents hid us under the bed when the militias came near,” said Fahista.                                                         "In my town, it was thought to be a waste of money to send a girl to school, as she would marry and                                                          go to live with the husband's family," Ayak reported. “In my area, it was considered an abomination to                                                       educate a girl,” Lona said. Now she is the top student in this entire state of South Sudan.

                       

                                                     Lona, Ayak, Idia, Fahista – GAGAC scholarship recipients

 

​

​

​

​

As always with our Special Projects, 100% of donations go to the programs!

 

Second Step

 

We help girls get through high school, but they want more! So we launched Second Step to send them to college or medical school or for skills training, inviting individuals and groups to provide all or part of a girl's support for the two years it takes her to finish. Provide $750 per year or a portion thereof and help these girls take their Second Step!

 

photos: Kide Eveline, studying to be a midwife in Lira, Uganda; 

Rehema Regina (far right in group photo), medical student from Congo

​

​

​

​