Education is the most promising way out of poverty, hunger, inequality and oppression for future generations of women.

 

Why we care: Uneducated girls are at constant risk of hunger, abuse, early motherhood and lifelong poverty. Education with school meals = sharp minds.

 

How we are solving this: Our school provides 100 girls with free primary education, including daily hot nutritious meals to awaken hungry minds and allow girls to learn.

 

For our students, going to school is the impossible dream that most poor girls abandon early.

 

“Only boys are smart enough to go to school.”

 

Chicuchas Wasi Free School for Girls was created for indigenous girls in Cusco, Peru. With good nutrition, our students are enthusiastic and focused learners and recognize that education is the path to pursue opportunities that their mothers and grandmothers were denied. Educated girls will educate their families and communities and become future leaders for gender equality in their society.

 

But first, hunger must be addressed. We need your help!

 

Our students are born into stark poverty and most lack basic services and adequate food. Hunger is a daily companion for them and they believe they are destined to suffer a life of poverty, abuse and oppression.

 

In the school’s first month, we recognized undernourished students couldn’t stay awake or focus, and displayed mental dullness, lethargy and exhaustion due to hunger. This was quickly remedied with the addition of a meal program, resulting in alert students, who were engaged and able to develop intellectually.

 

Education will lift girls out of poverty, but full bellies are needed for sharp minds and healthy bodies. Your financial help will provide the following school meal program for 100 students across the 2014 school year:

These meals are prepared in our fully equipped school kitchen by two cooks and served in the school’s dining room in two shifts.