DAR ES SALAAM, 15 May 2009 – Parched Earth author Elieshi Lema visited the girls’ project final workshop on Friday as its guest speaker to discuss the importance of self-confidence and diligence.

Ms. Lema, a tireless advocate for girls’ and women’s rights, spoke about the challenges that girls and women face in Tanzania. She emphasized the importance of gender equality in advancing society and the role that gender equality education plays in building self-confidence in young women.

She discussed with the girls their vocational training activities, including sewing and batik making. Ms. Lema encouraged the participants to work together to achieve their goals by building bonds of friendship and cooperation and assisting one another in their business ventures. She indicated that by working together they were more likely to obtain financial backing from banks and other institution.

The discussion included practical examples of using a small amount of starter capital to build a successful business. Efficiency and sacrifice were highlighted as two necessities to building a business, as well as personal and financial transparency and cooperation with business partners.

Ms. Lema concluded her presentation with the admonition to work together, love one another and work hard to reach the goals the girls have set for themselves.

The group presented her with a large piece of handmade batik in appreciation for her visit to Chipua. Following a prior discussion with Chipua’s Executive Director, Ms. Lema christened a new Chipua library with the generous donation of two boxes of books.

DAR ES SALAAM, 13 May 2009 -- The first phase of the first quarter girls’ project was conducted from 13 January 2009 to 13 May 2009 at the Chipua facility in the Mikocheni ward of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

A total of 39 girls were registered – 23 of the 39 completed the project on 13 May and the remaining 16 are continuing with the training program due to a late start time. Participants came from the neighbourhoods of Mikocheni, Msasani, Gongo la Mbota, Yorubo Buza, Kigamboni and Kibamba. Sessions were conducted Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM.

The staff’s initial assessment was that the majority of the participants had little to no vocational or business skills, and they were ill informed on other subjects like gender equality and HIV/AIDS. Lack of self-confidence and self-esteem caused them to exhibit shyness and immature behaviour, including an unwillingness to cooperate with one another.

Through character development training, the girls were able to develop the self-confidence and self-esteem necessary to eliminate their shyness and embrace mature behaviour. They were able to develop a vision and purpose for their lives that encouraged personal ownership for one’s own direction in life, a break with the traditional attitude of disadvantaged girls and women in Tanzania. The participants were able to speak to their peers with an authority and confidence that they lacked prior to the training, and they developed good study habits that were completely absent in the beginning.

The business-training portion of the program taught them how to create a business plan and appropriate market their products. The girls formed a business team with a group of other participants, and they were instructed on the necessity and value of working and cooperating together using a combination of business and character development curriculum. Basic accounting skills were taught in order to assist the business teams with bookkeeping.

Vocational training focused primarily on sewing, hand embroidery, decoration and batik and tie-dye. The girls were encouraged to embrace their creativity when it came to creating products.

Classroom instruction methods included lecture; class discussion; practicum; role-play; debate; brainstorming; group and individual assignments, including homework; and quizzes and exams. In order to encourage the development of expression and self-esteem, the girls were heavily encouraged to participate in class discussions and group activities.

The final component of the program included two workshops with the parents of the participants. The first workshop explained the methodology of the Chipua program, whereas the second workshop focused on the girls’ business plans. The purpose was to encourage the involvement of the family in the girl’s advancement and education in order to increase the program’s effectiveness and better insure the longevity of its benefits.

The second phase of the project includes the implementation of the group business plans and monitoring and evaluation activities by Chipua staff. Chipua participants will receive weekly visits from the staff where they will evaluate together the success of their business, the use of the knowledge covered during the training program and ways in which Chipua can help to continue enriching their lives.