MTC Educate A Girl Study Center
My name is Maka Chikowero. I am the founder of MTC Educate A Girl Foundation, a non-profit organization that benefits girls in rural areas of Zimbabwe. I write this letter to ask for your help in building a community library and study center at Nhedziwa in rural Chimanimani where my organization operates.
The girls I support directly benefit from educational scholarships and from the sports equipment that my organization sources so that the girls can stay in school while also playing soccer. These two programs have brought real change to the Chimanimani community even during this difficult COVID-19 period.We have seen a reduction in the rate of child marriages as well as girls falling pregnant young.
Here is why I need your assistance: COVID-19 has made it very hard for the girls I work with and others in the community to access education or even learning materials. These girls have no books, zero access to virtual learning, and were basically sitting at home where they were at serious risk of child marriages for all of the 2020 academic year. While schools have reopened and now closed up again due to the third wave of covid 19 , the girls were only go to school twice a week in line with the government's safety regulations. Effectively, the girls I support through my organization are still stuck in almost the same conditions they were in during the first wave of the COVID - 19 pandemic. From my interactions with the girls, a free community library would be the greatest thing to happen to them in these circumstances and even beyond this COVID-19 period. I propose a multi-purpose library and learning space that will also be repurposed for weekly sessions with community health workers, law enforcement agents, career coaches, and other resource people in my organization's schedule.
My organization has already secured the land for the purpose of establishing the library and study center near Nhedziwa Business Center. My organization has also been able to fence off the plot of land which is already being used by the girls as a safe space for reading and reflection as well as small group activities like watercolor painting.
I have already secured books through the Rotary Club International which are now in a Rotary Club warehouse in South Africa.
I am working with my organization's board to finalize the building plan for the library but our research so far has shown that we will need $20 000 to complete this project.
I have attached some pictures showing some of my organization's work with the schoolchildren in Nhedziwa as well as some of the beneficiaries of my organization's scholarship program. A lot more images can be seen on my organization's social media platforms via the link I provide below.
Kindly visit my organization's website and social media sites to see the activities and accomplishments: https://linktr.ee/MTC_Girl
The proposed Study Center/Library will have designated spaces to promote sexual
and reproductive health education workshops that are women-specific. MTC
Safeguarding Policy ensures the inclusion of all other types of beneficiaries
regardless of physical or intellectual disability, religion or sexuality. MTC’s
intervention fights these discriminatory social norms and stereotypes that exclude
vast numbers of girls and women from accessing reading material. The
Community Library will bring attention to issues of gender-based violence, sexual
abuse, child marriages, sexual health and reproductive rights and thereby
empower the girls and women in the Nhedziwa community.
Proposed budget $20 000
Land – Already acquired
Building materials
Builders
Desks and chairs
Electricity
Coordinator
Maka Chikowero
Founder, MTC Educate A Girl Foundation
The girls I support directly benefit from educational scholarships and from the sports equipment that my organization sources so that the girls can stay in school while also playing soccer. These two programs have brought real change to the Chimanimani community even during this difficult COVID-19 period.We have seen a reduction in the rate of child marriages as well as girls falling pregnant young.
Here is why I need your assistance: COVID-19 has made it very hard for the girls I work with and others in the community to access education or even learning materials. These girls have no books, zero access to virtual learning, and were basically sitting at home where they were at serious risk of child marriages for all of the 2020 academic year. While schools have reopened and now closed up again due to the third wave of covid 19 , the girls were only go to school twice a week in line with the government's safety regulations. Effectively, the girls I support through my organization are still stuck in almost the same conditions they were in during the first wave of the COVID - 19 pandemic. From my interactions with the girls, a free community library would be the greatest thing to happen to them in these circumstances and even beyond this COVID-19 period. I propose a multi-purpose library and learning space that will also be repurposed for weekly sessions with community health workers, law enforcement agents, career coaches, and other resource people in my organization's schedule.
My organization has already secured the land for the purpose of establishing the library and study center near Nhedziwa Business Center. My organization has also been able to fence off the plot of land which is already being used by the girls as a safe space for reading and reflection as well as small group activities like watercolor painting.
I have already secured books through the Rotary Club International which are now in a Rotary Club warehouse in South Africa.
I am working with my organization's board to finalize the building plan for the library but our research so far has shown that we will need $20 000 to complete this project.
I have attached some pictures showing some of my organization's work with the schoolchildren in Nhedziwa as well as some of the beneficiaries of my organization's scholarship program. A lot more images can be seen on my organization's social media platforms via the link I provide below.
Kindly visit my organization's website and social media sites to see the activities and accomplishments: https://linktr.ee/MTC_Girl
The proposed Study Center/Library will have designated spaces to promote sexual
and reproductive health education workshops that are women-specific. MTC
Safeguarding Policy ensures the inclusion of all other types of beneficiaries
regardless of physical or intellectual disability, religion or sexuality. MTC’s
intervention fights these discriminatory social norms and stereotypes that exclude
vast numbers of girls and women from accessing reading material. The
Community Library will bring attention to issues of gender-based violence, sexual
abuse, child marriages, sexual health and reproductive rights and thereby
empower the girls and women in the Nhedziwa community.
Proposed budget $20 000
Land – Already acquired
Building materials
Builders
Desks and chairs
Electricity
Coordinator
Maka Chikowero
Founder, MTC Educate A Girl Foundation
Spreading And Promoting Literacy
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Steps Towards a Study Center
Pine Trees planting July 2021
Afforestation helps to address all the issues of soil erosion and barren land at the same time. Trees act as wind barriers thereby weakening the speed of the wind and reducing its impact and ability to carry big soil particles.
With the devastation of cyclone Idai, MTC Educate A Girl Inc leads in the restoration of lost vegetation due to flooding and continuous loss of plant life due to the need of fuel for cooking.
With the devastation of cyclone Idai, MTC Educate A Girl Inc leads in the restoration of lost vegetation due to flooding and continuous loss of plant life due to the need of fuel for cooking.
September 2021- MTC brick molding project
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The process to build the MTC study center has begun by the molding of bricks. Looking forward to this exciting adventure.
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