accomplishments

For African Girls Can navigating the global pandemic, 2020 was the year of radio programming and 2021 was the year of tablets.  Both years involved emergency food distributions to the families of our students. 2022 was a return, finally, to normal in-school programming.

• Sent 13 girls to secondary school, including one new girl in A-Level at St. Katherine, and a new S2 girl at a school in Kampala.
  • In addition, three nursing students were supported by our organization, along with two young women pursuing National Certificates in Architecture and Building Construction.  These are all AGC secondary school graduates.
  • One new vocational participant was added and she is pursuing a Certificate in Child Care at a Teacher’s College in Kampala.
  • First Presbyterian Society of Pittsford, NY continued to support 4 students.
  • Total number of girls supported in 2022:  19
  • Total number of girls impacted by African Girls Can:  21 (See them in our Yearbook)
• Published a two-part blog on International Women’s Day and Earth Day by our first guest blogger, Einoth Justine, who has experience as a mentor and instructor with Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative and Africa School Assistance Project.  Einoth read and reviewed Elizabeth Nyamaryaro’s autobiography I am a Girl from Africa, relating it to her own personal experience as growing up as a girl in Tanzania.  These blogs were promoted on social media and caught the attention of Elizabeth herself who has held many prominent positions in the UN and currently is a Special Advisor at the World Food Programme.
  • African Girls Can then participated in Elizabeth’s “Girl From” campaign during March, 2022, providing the girls with special “Girl from Uganda” t-shirts for a great photo op!  Follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out on fun activities like this.

• Published blogs summarizing material presented at several key girls’ education events:  Girls Not Brides’ Partnership Strategy for 2022-25, Amplify Girls’ panel on localization, and the UN General Assembly and Transforming Education Summit.
  

  

• Raised money to double the number of sewing machines at St. Katherine School to 10.  These machines help all the girls at the school who are enrolled in the Design and Textiles course, not just those supported by African Girls Can.  This is one of 8 vocational courses now offered, with the goal of helping the girls gain practical skills that will enable them to earn an income.
• Approved as a non-profit organization for Benevity Causes, which promotes charitable giving at large corporations through the ease of payroll deduction and the incentive of a company match.
• Planned a retreat in Lira, Uganda for early January 2023 for 20 girls – a special opportunity to learn and have fun.
• Facebook has over 2,400 followers and Instagram is approaching 500.

2021 was entirely disrupted as the coronavirus evolved into new variants, putting girls’ education in jeopardy worldwide.  It was imperative that we try to find a way for our girls to continue learning, stay connected, and not lose hope.  While it surely was not the same as attending school in person, we believe the year was not lost.

The year started with the hope that schools would reopen with the proper safety precautions.  There was a plan in place to stagger students’ return and St. Katherine drew up an elaborate new academic calendar.  Unfortunately, the girls were back at school for only a matter of weeks when schools closed again for the remainder of the year.  Adding on to 2020, Uganda endured the longest pandemic related school closures in the world.

• Since last year’s new S1 students barely had a chance to be in school, we considered them still to be new in 2021.  We added 2 new A-Level girls to replace 2 girls who had graduated, keeping the number of students supported at St. Katherine at 13.
• Developed a bold plan to provide the girls tablets and data for study at home.  The tablets were acquired, programmed, and delivered to each girl.  Our Teacher Liaison Jenny Nyakober kept in close contact with the girls providing technical assistance and a steady stream of reminders for e-learning sessions. The tablet functions as a phone as well, so each girl now has a phone number for WhatsApp.  Vibrant and supportive group chats began!
• Provided financial assistance to St. Katherine in bolstering their internet service so they could more successfully broadcast e-learning sessions to its entire student body.  When solicited, AGC responded with a donation of about $1,350.
• Hosted a two-day retreat for 15 girls in early December.  We wanted the girls to feel special and celebrated after the hardships of the past two years and gathered at a hotel for a sleep over and several delicious, filling meals.  The girls took a yoga class and paired up to record their challenges during Covid (and how they overcame them).  They enjoyed receiving holiday gift bags.  Parents joined in at the conclusion of the retreat.
• Accepted into Girls not Brides.  This advocacy organization aims to end child marriage around the world through a wide network of over 1,500 grassroots programs in more than 100 countries.
• Continued to attend informative webinars hosted by leading girls’ education organizations and published blogs summarizing learnings.  These include:

–  Eliminating Barriers to Girls Education (hosted by World Bicycle Relief)

–  Africa on the Rise (University of Colorado Conference on World Affairs)

–  Information and Communication Technology for Development (Mount Holyoke College)

–  Period Poverty (Days for Girls Podcast)

–  Overcoming Pandemic Losses in Girls Education (Amplify)

–  Combatting Gender Based Violence (Girl Up / UN Foundation)

• Girls are progressing from secondary school to practical training programs that will foster their independence.  Winnie was accepted to Good Samaritan School of Nursing and Midwifery in Lira.  Vivian was accepted for a National Diploma in Architecture at Uganda Technical College in Lira.  Patricia was accepted to Kiryandongo Technical Institute for a National Certificate in Building Construction.
• Social Media:  Facebook has 1,891 followers and Instagram has 195 (a number of which are organizations with large numbers of supporters).  We linked the two accounts and began posting more frequently on Instagram (including a fun “Where in the World” monthly feature, which showed AGC stickers showing up in places like Japan and Finland).  We followed the accounts of other girls’ education organizations and they in turn followed us.  It feels like we are part of a close community of like-minded thinkers.

2020 has been a year like no other. Like all organizations, ours did not follow the path originally planned. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had to be flexible and respond to the needs of our girls, their families, and their community.

• Recruited 3 new girls (two S1/O-Level and one S5/A-Level).  The girls were set up with their dormitory and school supplies and the first trimester tuition was paid for all 13 AGC students.  Then, COVID-19 hit.  Uganda takes pandemics very seriously, so all schools were closed in mid-March and the girls returned home.
• Shifted focus to food security for 16 families (including the graduates from 2019), and made several deliveries by motorcycle to their homes in the countryside.  These supplies included posho (corn meal), beans, salt, sugar, cooking oil, kerosene, soap, and sanitary pads.  Packets of study materials (grade specific) were included in one delivery.  Girls built “tippy tap” handwashing stations for their villages.
• Redirected funds toward an innovative outreach.  Six radio talk shows were broadcast from Lira every other week from July through September and eight AGC students had the opportunity to speak on the radio.  This important life skills information was heard throughout Northern Uganda.  Here are the scripts for the six topics: Resilience, Self-Advocacy, Self-Esteem, Role Models, Self-Motivation, Values.
• St. Katharine reopened in mid-October for 4^th and 6^th year students only (i.e. national exam candidate classes).  Helped ensure the safety of the four of our girls who returned by providing masks, sanitizer, and a large handwashing station for all students (estimated 200 in attendance out of 1,000+) and staff at the school to use.
• African Girls Can attended (virtually) several webinars about girls’ education, asset framing, and philanthropy, including the 2020 Girl Up Leadership Summit and Girl Rising’s “Impact of COVID-19 on Girls’s Lives” and International Day of the Girl Summit.
• Hosted our own webinar on December 19.  About 35 supporters watched as Phoebe, Jenny, and two of the school girls, Vivian and Monica, spoke for one hour live from Uganda about their lives and dreams and answered questions from the audience.  Watch the video!
• Flavia won a full scholarship from the Mastercard Foundation to get a degree in education from Makerere University.  Nancy and Rebecca were accepted to Good Samaritan School of Nursing and Midwifery in Lira (but were put on hold due to COVID-19).  They continued to be sponsored by First Presbyterian Society of Pittsford, NY.
• Flavia and Vivian entered the Girl Rising Storytelling challenge with an essay and poem.
• AGC joined the Google for Non-Profits program in order to gain access to free ad dollars when people search general terms such as “girls’ education” and “girls’ empowerment.”  As a result, we received our first unsolicited donations.
• Social Media:  Facebook has 1,444 followers and Instagram has 69.  A goal in 2021 will be to expand our Instagram community.

• Added five more girls to the program, for a total of 13.
• Cheered for our first A-Level graduate!  We hope that Flavia will continue her studies at university.
• Two other students, Nancy and Rebecca, who started school in 2016 and were the very first supported by our program, sat for their Ordinary Level (S4) exams in November, 2019.
• All 13 girls attended an “Empowerment Camp” August 23-25, 2019.  A professional facilitator led the group in many fun team and confidence building exercises.  The session concluded with a big meeting for the girls and their parents and guardians (including cake!).  The girls put on a skit for their families.
• During the camp, our girls became social media darlings!  Big thanks to Phoebe Mulinde and her husband, Ben Mulinde, for producing our organization’s first video, which features each girl telling the world why investing in girls’ education makes sense.  54 views as of January, 2020.
• About half of the girls joined together to implement a community service project by visiting a nearby Primary School and talking to the younger kids about the importance of becoming educated.  We are so proud of our role models!
• First Presbyterian Society of Pittsford, NY continued sponsorship of two students.  The church’s Women’s Group began supporting two additional students.
• Opened Instagram account.  51 followers as of January, 2020.
• Facebook followers increased to 1,381 people.

• Added three more girls to the program, for a total of eight.  Sharon and Ketty completed their first year at St. Katherine.  Read the amazing story about how Phoebe found Ketty and awarded her a scholarship. Meanwhile, Janet and Winnie finished their second year and our original girls, Rebecca and Nancy, finished their third.  Patricia completed her fourth year and sat for the big national exams at its conclusion.
• Added our first A-Level student, Flavia.  She is studying a combination of Literature, Economics and Geography and has a goal of becoming a lawyer.  She won an award at school this year for being one of the top students in the Arts stream.  Read her story.
• Alecia attended Summit Middle School’s International Night in January.  Sofia Kuperus (creator of the “Dream” necklaces) hosted a Uganda table and sold more necklaces.
• Carol Plank and Candace Atwood spent time with the African Girls Can girls at St. Katherine as part of personal travel to visit Phoebe in September.  Carol presented the students and Ugandan volunteers with bright pink t-shirts embroidered with the AGC logo.
• Alecia and her friend and former work colleague, Jody Devoid, presented about Girls’ Education and African Girls Can to the Interact Club at Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH in October.  We tried to lay the groundwork for a student fundraiser in 2019.
• Before leaving for their extended Winter break, the eight girls were presented with handmade, framed art cards, customized personally for each of them. They were made by a talented artist in the US, Robin Seiz, who is also a champion of women’s empowerment and girls’ education in Uganda.
• First Presbyterian Society of Pittsford, NY continued sponsorship of two students.
• Facebook followers increased to 802 people.

• Added three more girls to the program, for a total of five.  Janet and Winnie come from the Otuke District and completed their first year at St. Katherine.  We saw them gain self-assurance and confidence.  Patricia is a very bright student who was already enrolled at the school, but was absent a lot due to her family’s inability to pay the fees.  We added her to the group and she was able to finish her third year.  Read her story.
• Alecia visited Uganda!  This was part of a trip to East Africa to see the work of two Girls Ed organizations and a personal expense.  The highlight was touring St. Katherine, meeting the five African Girls Can students and spending two hours with them.  The group discussed hopes & dreams and the girls created “Dream Trees.”  Alecia brought “Dream” necklaces made by a Colorado Middle School student as gifts.   Read about our wonderful day together.
• St. Katherine assigned our organization a Teacher Liaison for 2018.  She will act as a mentor and meet regularly with the girls.  Read about Jennifer Nyakober.
• Three of our students performed community service over the Christmas holiday at Aliwang Health Center in Otuke.  Pictures are in our Family Album!
• First Presbyterian Society of Pittsford, NY began supporting African Girls Can by sponsoring two students.
• Facebook page follows reached 500 people and we share lots of information about the Girls’ Education revolution.  Are you seeing it?

• Sent two girls from the Otuke District in Northern Uganda to school.  Rebecca and Nancy have both completed their first year of school at St. Katherine Secondary School for Girls in Lira, Uganda. They each performed strongly academically and began to blossom socially.  Have a look at their before and after photos.
• Created logo and website, set up Facebook page and initiated crowdfunding campaign.  Here’s how the logo came about.
• Registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US and received IRS determination letter.