Generation Rise

Her Voice Matters Her Voice Matters

Her Voice Matters

Despite initiatives mandating compulsory education for all boys and girls in Rwanda, many barriers exist that prevent girls from eventually pursuing higher degrees, entering the workforce, or aspiring for leadership positions. While these barriers are cultural entrenched and are reinforced systematically at home from a young age, we believe all girls should dream big and believe they can achieve. One roadblock to self-awareness and self-empowerment that we have identified is the lack of assigned reading and writing assignments in Rwandan schooling. Without reading books, many girls have a difficult time developing the ability to understand the world around them and viewing their roles more critically. Rwandan culture can often encourage introversion. We believe that girls will feel more self-assured after finding themselves reflected through the characters they read about, and more confident sharing their opinions and dreams with each other after journaling.

Her Voice Matters will help girls find their voices and inspire them to put their ideas into actions. We will begin working with students and teachers at two schools where selected girls, ages 14 to 20, will participate in facilitated weekly discussions about a variety of topics from assigned readings for a period of nine months. During this time, the girls will learn more about how to be leaders in their communities and build toolkits that will help them reach their goals.

Objectives