“Education is a human right” seems like a view that is widely embraced but the truth is not as pragmatic. According to UNESCO, 9.5 million African girls would never set foot in a classroom. When looking at this sobering statistic, yearning for progress to girls’ rights is habitual, but the action that comes with that yearning takes work. At Asante Africa Foundation, we’re grounded on hard work. This ethic translates even more so to our youth.

For Human Rights Day, we want to spotlight a couple of our determined young women who have been able to better advocate for themselves and their communities due to our Wezesha Vijana program. (Wezesha Vijana means verbatim “empowering ourselves” in Swahili). Through the program, we emphasize the need for every young girl to develop skills related to personal, social, economic, and health development. This rights-based program gives young women power that they never thought they could have.

Take Daniela from rural Kenya, who during her involvement in the program, gained valuable insight into puberty, hygiene, and the causes of teenage pregnancy. Joining the program led to a new comfort for Daniela as she had access to feminine products in a way she never had before. In the program, she was able to develop her leadership skills by serving as a group leader to help form a conducive learning environment for her peers. She also started a crafting bead business, which now has an average weekly profit of 500 Kenyan shillings. With her newfound budgeting skills, Daniela uses her earnings for her and her family’s comfort.

Daniela’s educational goal is to score well on her upcoming exams in order to gain admission to her local high school. Her role model, Kenyan parliament member and women’s activist Naisula Lesuda, has helped set her dream of becoming a member of parliament herself so she can continue to contribute positively to her community. 

Eighth-grader Esther is from rural Kenya. Before her involvement with Wezesha Vijana, she served as a class prefect, mentoring and tutoring younger students. Yet she felt held back by her otherwise shy personality.  Growing more confident as she became involved in Wezesha Vijana, Esther was thrilled to accept a role in becoming her school’s program chairperson. She also gained insight into small business practices. With those insights, Esther offers hairdressing services to members of her community. The eager, young entrepreneur now earns approximately 3,000 Kenyan shillings a month, which goes to school fees, sanitary pads, clothing, and emergencies. Esther’s desire to become a nurse comes from seeing one taking incredible care of patients at a local hospital. To reach her dreams, Esther is determined to pass the exam for high school admissions. 

These two young women are just a few of the many where Asante Africa Foundation’s Wezesha Vijana program, has become part of their story of finding themselves as they grow in their womanhood. Today, on Human Rights Day, we want to celebrate with humble hearts the ultimate freedom that is in female access to education. 

WRITTEN BY: Chioma Okoro