Thank you for your support towards empowering and educating girls in Africa, like Marian.  Marian is truly thankful for the support she is receiving. She tells us in her video-

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th each year.  International Women's Day celebrates women and this year UN says "This International Women's Day, let's claim 'Gender Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow'."

We are truly grateful to Catherine, who reached out to Develop Africa asking if she could make a difference for girls in Africa. 

Thanks in part to your ongoing support, the Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) team held another girls’ mentoring program on January 22, 2022, on self-esteem and setting goals.  Thirty-one young ladies between the ages of 10-20 years old in Freetown attended the mentoring session.   Lunch and transportation were provided to the girls in attendance as well as a care package including cooking oil, onions, macaroni, tin tomato, and biscuits.

The guest speaker discussed the following points:

Thanks in part to your ongoing support, the Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) team held another girls’ mentoring program in December on choosing a career.  Thirty-two young ladies between the ages of 10-20 years old in Freetown attended the mentoring session.   Lunch and transportation were provided to the girls in attendance as well as a care package including sardines, mayonnaise, noodles, and custard. 

Thanks in part to your ongoing support, the Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) team held another girls’ mentoring program at the end of November on the topic of mental health.  Twenty- five young ladies between the ages of 10-20 years old in Freetown attended the mentoring session.   Lunch and transportation were provided to the girls in attendance as well as toiletries including body splash, deodorant,  4 bars of soap, vaseline, toothpaste, and a toothbrush (pictured above).

Thanks in part to your ongoing support, the Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) team held another girls’ mentoring program on the topic of leadership and public speaking.  Twenty- eight young ladies between the ages of 10-20 years old in Freetown attended October's mentoring session.   Lunch and transportation were provided to the girls in attendance.

The guest speaker, Mrs. Dolly I. used the following points to engage the girls:

Thank YOU for helping to pave the way to a brighter and better future for young ladies in Sierra Leone. On October 11th we celebrated the International Day of the Girl Child.

 This is a day that we are all passionate about.  International Day of the Girl Child promotes girls' empowerment and fulfillment of their human rights.

Thanks in part to your ongoing support, the Develop Africa Sierra Leone (DASL) team along with African Girls Code launched an eight-week pilot program to provide free coding. 

The purpose was to introduce African girls to the male-dominated world of programming and encourage young women to pursue a future in computer science and other STEM-related fields.

31 secondary school-aged girls in Freetown, Sierra Leone participated in the pilot program. 

The goals for this pilot launch were to:

Nearly 1 in 4 girls of primary school age are out of school in sub-Saharan Africa.  There are currently 5.5 million more out-of-school girls of primary school age than boys, worldwide.

The barriers that deter children from attending primary school vary across and within countries but are often associated with poverty, geographic remoteness, armed conflict, lack of school infrastructure, and poor-quality education. Moreover, these obstacles often interact with gender inequality to intensify learning disadvantages for marginalized girls.