Literacy is a gift that sets captives free.
One of our biggest focus areas around the world at each home is education. We fight for the education of every orphaned child around the world because we believe that education puts the power of possibility into the hands of an orphaned child.
UNESCO estimates that there are approx. 120 million adolescent children without any access to a basic education. Most of these children have been orphaned or abandoned.
One of our homes on the front lines of this crisis is Bethsaida Home for Girls in Tanzania. In certain parts of East Africa, only 1 out of 5 girls ever attend high school, and those figures are much lower when you consider the orphaned population of children.
In a culture where girls are told they need to prioritize everything else above going to school, many of them are just trying to survive. Studies have shown that when girls attend high school, their chance for early pregnancy and other major risk factors goes way down!
Despite the fact that all of the 150 girls at Bethsaida have experienced a lot of trauma during their short life-times, there is so much joy in their hearts and they are loved!
(Source: Serving Orphans Worldwide)