Education - supporting girls in Togo

Tradition plays a huge part in girls not attending school in Togo, West Africa. In the central region alone, a quarter of girls do not attend primary school. Plan is assisting girls by providing them with support, both financial and emotional, to challenge tradition and attend school. As role model Amina explains, emotional support from other women is vital if projects are to succeed. Amina shares her story of growing up in a community were tradition weighs heavily on girls:

"As a young girl, I knew a woman who was a midwife. I used to admire her a lot, she was always busy but could also take care of the household. She was open to the outside world and I wanted the same style of life".

Amina struggled in school and had to repeat several times. Her father would threaten to take her out of school and her stepmothers would mock her, they believed it was a waste of time to send a girl to school. Anima continues:

"I finally obtained my junior certificate however I didn't have the money to pay the school fees to continue. I had to drop out for five years and work as a maid". During this time, Anima got married and had two children but she was still determined, so she applied to the National School of Nursing and was accepted.

Amina encourages young girls to stay in school

Today, she works as a health care assistant and supports younger women and girls who want to continue in school. She is involved in a Plan project called "Promotion of Girls Education" which aims to encourage and financially support girls to attend and/or continue their schooling. Anima provides advice to many girls and encourages them to pursue vocational or academic training.

Mrs Assibi explains Anima's positive influence; "I was born into a poor family and was going to drop out of school but Anima encouraged me to continue, today I am a nursery school teacher, I admire Anima so much for her advice."

By sponsoring a child today, you can support a community based project to support girls education, why not sponsor a child by clicking here?