Waache Wasome (Let Them Learn)

Waache Wasome aims to increase adolescent girls’ participation and retention in secondary school in Tanzania. The project’s efforts are rooted in the principle of empowering girls to create and achieve goals for their future, while addressing the social/gender norms, economic barriers, and violence that constrain their ability to remain and excel in school. We work closely with local government authorities, schools, leaders, and parents to bring a holistic package of interventions to target councils. Objectives and interventions of the project: 1. Build the agency, knowledge, and protective assets of secondary school girls by supporting schools to organize Protect Our Youth Clubs, which empower students them with information, skills, and support networks to better navigate the variety of risks they face and build protective assets to reduce vulnerabilities. 2. Increase family commitment and capacity to invest in girls’ education by forming Livelihood Improvement for Mothers and Caregivers of Adolescents groups, which support change at the household level through a community savings model designed to help caregivers develop a safety net and provide additional support to ensure their daughters’ continued education. 3. Foster a girl-friendly and supportive school environment by providing teachers and administrators training that equips them with knowledge and skills to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence, develop a positive relationship with students, and challenge harmful gender norms. 4. Provide alternative education pathways for girls who dropped out of secondary school by initiating out-of-school support groups, which provide wrap-around support and skills training for highly vulnerable girls.

In Tanzania, the project team is refining COVID-19-related materials for sharing remotely with teachers, students, and students’ families. While a national school closure has temporarily interrupted direct support to beneficiaries, project staff are preparing pilot video and audio sessions to continue our core work building the protective assets of adolescent girls, reducing school-related gender-based violence, and strengthening household economic resilience. We also plan to deliver key messages through a network of community radio stations, and to support local government authorities and partners to safely conduct on-site support and monitoring of cases.