Thank You for Your Support of Our COVID-19 Response
We are excited to share that Tanzanian schools have now reopened! We have worked hard to put protocols in place to keep our students and staff safe as they return to campus. For information on what our response has been throughout the 3 month school closure please click here to read a detailed summary or watch our recent webinar by clicking here.
A student washes her hands at the school gate after being temperature checked upon her return to SEGA.
On behalf of the SEGA Girls’ School, the teachers, students, graduates, as well as the Nurturing Minds board and staff, we would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to all of our dedicated donors who rallied to help us respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are deeply grateful. With your support we were able to ensure our students were safe and cared for, mentally and physically, and were able to continue their studies even when they could not be on campus.
Our COVID-19 Task Force of U.S. and Tanzanian board members and advisors, health professionals, educators, and non-profit leaders came together to develop a holistic strategy to ensure SEGA students, graduates, the girls in the Modern Girl community outreach program and their families were informed of the COVID-19 pandemic and received materials to help keep them safe and healthy.
We reached over 1,200 girls and several hundred of their families spanning 25 different communities in Tanzania. Your generosity enabled us to send packages with funding to help families in dire need purchase food and protect girls from trading sex for food, educational materials for remote learning, informational materials in Swahili on COVID-19 prevention, masks, and soap.
Our ability to deploy health information pamphlets and supplies, including masks, to 260 students, 900 Modern Girl participants and 38 mentors (3,600 cloth masks to date were sewn at SEGA), meant that we were not only supporting our students, but their communities as well. We have also been able to share our COVID-19 pamphlets with other organizations reaching across East Africa.
We know that at home SEGA students face challenges accessing education, health, food and are vulnerable to social pressure from men. SEGA was created to provide a safe place to help girls achieve their dreams and thrive. Because of you, we have been able to continue providing support to the students from a distance. SEGA teachers printed grade specific education packets so student could continue their learning. We’ve also made sure matrons and counselors had weekly check-in calls with students to keep their studies on track, reinforce their life skills, and to help handle any challenges.
All students returned safely to school on June 29. They are continuing to follow strict health and safety procedures established by the government and the Covid-19 Task Force. Your invaluable support made such a difference in helping to keep them safe during this scary time!
All this is to say, thank you!
But enough from us. Let’s hear a thank you from Ashwag, a 2018 graduate and Ahmed Luambano, Vice Head of School/Geography Teacher.