What is the Girl Child Education Fund? | How Education Can Improve
Girls’ Lives |
One Girl’s Story | What We Have Achieved | Approach |
Our
Partners | Background | Frequently Asked Questions |
How To Donate
The Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF), a signature initiative of FNIF, supports the primary and secondary schooling of girls under the age of 18 in developing countries whose nurse parent or parents have died. Your donation to the Girl Child Education Fund will go towards school fees, uniforms, shoes and books. Donations to the Girl Child Education Fund can be made by credit card, bank transfer or cheque.
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| Since the initiation of the programme 316 girls have been enrolled in the GCEF. In 2010-11, the programme is taking on an evaluation to better understand the impact of the programme and how best to strengthen it. A contribution of just US$ 200 will help cover the costs of uniforms, school books, and fees for the primary education of a girl child for one year, and US$ 600 for secondary education. Approximately US$ 5,000 will secure the education of a girl throughout her primary and secondary schooling years. |
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What the nurse volunteers and teachers have to say:
The glamour and joy I see in the eyes of these girl children when I interact with them through this fund gives me the inner peace which gives me the impetus to carry on.
Before she was under your programme, she had some sort of inferiority complex, you could see that she was depressed and didn’t know what was next with her education but now she feels very secure. She mixes so easily with friends in sports, other clubs and academic work. She therefore participates fully.
Girl child education is very important in our society now because previously the girl child’s position was known to only be in the kitchen but those days are gone. The girl child must forge forward and attain the highest level of education. [One of the GCEF girls] is even earning to reach university which we know she will definitely do. |
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What the guardians and parents have to say
It has relieved me from the burden of thinking of what the future holds for her and how I was going to be able to scout for funds to cater for her financially.
Now that she has been in the programme for two years I can see a bright future for the child as she will manage to finish school/education. There are changes since she has joined the programme: her performance at school is promising, and she is a happy girl as she knows that the programme is meeting her needs.
When my husband died in 2004, my children were still very young. I knew that no one was going to help me raise my children, let alone take them to school. I started looking for part time jobs and doing small businesses to raise funds for food and school requirements. The funding that we get from [the GCEF] will help my children complete their education. Without this programme I do not know what I would have done. |
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What the girls have to say:
This program is my mother and my father it means everything to me.
The future is promising because the GCEF came into existence and my dreams will be accomplished.
This programme is the reason I am in school and why I am where I am because, trust me, when I lost my father in my primary everything seemed to have come to an end because he was the sole provider and I have other siblings so it was not easy for me to continue. My paternal relatives wanted me to get married and someone was telling me to enroll in something else so if I am to tell any one about this I would say this is the reason I am in school. It is the reason why I am where I am today via my academics and my school and my future at large because many other girls like me have their future in education.
What I love about this programme is that we as girls would continue our education and not drop out of school. I would like to see the programme help other girls like me who will need help. And I wanted to say thanks for everything you people have done for me and what you people are doing to encourage girl child education. |
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What is the Girl Child Education Fund?
Sending girls to school - Securing healthy futures
Poverty, natural and man-made disasters, the HIV pandemic and
the re-emergence of TB and malaria
in developing countries are causing premature death, leaving behind millions
of orphaned children, including those of nurses. Many will not be able to
go to school unless we can help. Through the Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF) the orphaned daughters of nurses
in developing countries are getting back to school. The GCEF supports the
primary and secondary schooling of girls under the age of 18 in developing
countries whose nurse parent or parents have died, paying for fees, uniforms,
shoes and books. We work in partnership with member National Nurses Associations
to ensure that the money goes directly to education costs. Every girl in
our program is paired with a nurse volunteer to monitor her progress at school
and at home.
GCEF graduate speaker at the
FNIF 75th Anniversary Luncheon at Congress
The FNIF
75th Anniversary Luncheon was held on 2 July 2009 at the ICN
Congress in Durban, South Africa. The highlight of the Luncheon
was the speech given by a graduate of the Girl Child Education
Fund, Nondunduzo Dlamini, from Swaziland. A video of her
presentation can be seen by following this link. Please note that you will need to install K-Lite codecs to access this presentation.
A transcript of her speech is available here.
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How Education Can Improve Girls’ Lives
Educating girls = better health
- lmproved family planning
- Lower infant mortality: every day over 2,700 children
under the age of five will die needlessly because their mothers were denied
an education earlier in life
- Fewer maternal deaths in childbirth
- Lower HIV/AIDS infection rates: rates are doubled among
young people who do not finish primary school
Educating girls = better futures
- Greater participation in the work force and increased
family incomes: for each additional year a girl is in school, her wages as
an adult rise by approximately 15 percent
- Greater chance that their own children will be educated:
children whose mothers have no education are more than twice as likely to
be out of school as children whose mothers have some education
One Girl’s Story
Sarah is the youngest of five children. Her mother was a nurse at the district
hospital and her father operated a carpentry shop. In 1998, Sarah’s
mother became ill and was often in and out of hospital. Sarah did not
know what was wrong with her mother. In 2003, her father
also became ill. Her parents’ illness meant that most of their income
went to hospital fees so Sarah’s older brothers were forced to drop out of
school. In June 2004, Sarah overheard her brothers talking and discovered
that her mother had AIDS.
Six months later, her mother died on 25th December 2004, Christmas Day.
Three days later, Sarah received her school results: she had passed all her
exams and could go to secondary school. Although her father was very
ill, he continued to work so that Sarah could go to school. However,
he could only pay the first term fees and in the second term, Sarah was also forced to drop out of school. Her elder brothers were
now doing casual jobs to take care of the family and the medical expenses. Sarah also began to look for a job as a house maid.
In November 2005, Sarah’s father died. But two days later, some good news
finally came her way. A former colleague of her mother came to tell her that
she would be sponsored by the Girl Child Education Fund to continue her education.
When the school term began, the same woman came to escort her to school.
Her fees, uniform and school meals were all paid for. Sarah was able
to go back to school without interruption. Her performance in school
has improved dramatically.
Sarah says: “The GCEF is a project that has made a significant difference
in my life. It has transformed me from being a house maid to a student
who will be a professional and contribute to the lives of many others as
nurses have contributed to my life. Thank you very much for this noble project.”
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What We Have Achieved
The GCEF was launched in 2005 with just 10 girls in four sub-Saharan countries. Thanks to your donations a further 34 girls graduated from secondary school in 2012. We are currently supporting 155 girls: 23 in Kenya, 27 in Zambia, 35 in Swaziland and 70 in Uganda. All these are the orphaned daughters of nurses who would otherwise not have been able to attend school.
In addition, the GCEF has enabled over 130 girls to graduate from secondary school. In order to continue to support these girls so that each and every one of them can graduate, we depend on your kindness and generosity. Please help us keep these girls in school and give them the chance of a brighter future by making a donation today.
Approach
FNIF’s approach is one of working in partnership with National Nurses Associations
to ensure that the funding goes directly to support the education needs of
girl orphans. We believe this is in the best interests of the child
and is the most effective use of donor money. Protecting the dignity and
privacy of the Fund beneficiaries is of paramount importance to us. This
means that there is no personal or direct relation, obligation, or contact
between the donor and any beneficiary. We will however provide general
information about the initiative to our donors at regular intervals.
Our Partners
National Nurses Associations in sub-Saharan African countries - Kenya, Swaziland,
Uganda and Zambia – are working in partnership with us to implement and administer
the Fund on the ground. The associations receive applications from
many prospective students and identify the neediest girls. Each beneficiary
of the ICN/FNIF fund has lost a nurse parent and would otherwise be unable
to continue their education. Each of these four countries has a GCEF coordinator, whose duties include screening, recruitment and follow-up of the girls.
Background
Nurses have been involved with children’s issues for a long time. In
2000 FNIF launched the Girl Child Policy and Research Project to address
health policy issues affecting girls aged 10 to 14. In the course of
this work, ICN and FNIF have been increasingly drawn to the issue of orphaned
children, particularly those of our nurse colleagues.
We know that nurses are dying daily. We also know that, amazingly,
most children whose parent or parents have died have been cared for within
the extended family. Families, at great cost, continue to take responsibility
for around 90 per cent of orphans in the region. However, without support
many of these children will not be able to go to school.
This led us to think about developing a broader initiative to address the
overwhelming needs and numbers of orphaned children in Africa: thus the Girl
Child Education Fund was born. Launched at ICN’s 23rd Quadrennial Congress
in May 2005, the response from the world’s nursing community has been spontaneous
and generous. However, much remains to be done and ongoing support is vital.
Your Donation Will Make a Difference
The Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF), a signature initiative of FNIF, supports the primary and secondary schooling of girls under the age of 18 in developing countries whose nurse parent or parents have died. Your donation to the Girl Child Education Fund will go towards school fees, uniforms, shoes and books. Donations to the Girl Child Education Fund can be made by credit card, bank transfer or cheque.
We would like to thank all our donors for their generous gifts and hope that
you will continue to support this important project.
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FNIF Girl Child Education Fund 
