The Female Empowerment Programme

In rural Zambia, girls do not always have the same encouragement as their male peers to excel in school. As a result, from a young age girls assume quiet dispositions and often do not speak up when they have questions or when they know the answers. In 2015, the Kapani School Project noticed that of its sponsored students, the girls between grades 7 and 9 were struggling the most academically. This was the motivation to start a Girls Club at Yosefe Primary School, through which a safe space could be created for girls, to allow them to express themselves in ways they do not feel comfortable doing in a normal classroom environment. Through the club, the Kapani School Project has introduced girls to a variety of different career options for women, exposed them to strong and successful local female entrepreneurs, held sessions on relationships, menstruation and sexuality, and at the girls’ request implemented English study lessons to help them improve their reading and writing skills.