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Foothold works to support young women in rural East Africa overcome the steep and often overwhelming obstacles in their way of completing high school. Unfortunately when young women in rural communities of Kenya drop out of school, they are all too likely to become victims of trafficking.

What we've realized in our work, is that most families want to see their daughters complete school, and they are proud to support them in their education when they have the means to do so.

So, we take a holistic approach to do this. We have found over the last 20 years is that simply providing school fees for a young woman does not insure that she finishes school. If she has her school fees paid for, but she has no access to clean water, pads, soap, healthcare, or transportation, she may perform poorly or drop out altogether. Any missing link in her life could prove devastating. The good news is that we also find many of these small links are not so difficult or expensive to address.

Our holistic approach is ever expanding as our relationship with local communities deepens and we continue to monitor our outcomes and engage community stakeholders. Some of these interventions include providing access to clean water, menstrual pads, soap, reproductive education, violence prevention education to both young women and men.

We have more reasons to care about young women finishing school. Globally, programs that target women yield the greatest return in community growth, well-being and economic development.

What happens when a young woman finishes school?

She delays having children into later adulthood when she is more financially stable.
She is less likely to be exploited or sexually abused.
She is less likely to die in childbirth.
Her children are more likely to be healthy and educated.
Each year of high school completion yields a 25% increase in a young woman’s wages.

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All of our projects focus on economic and environmental sustainability. We prioritize projects that are income-generating for vulnerable families, empowering families to be the change-makers in their communities instead of reliance on ongoing outside aid. Each of our projects utilize locally-sourced materials and labor to increase their impact.

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Our geographic focus is rural East Africa because these areas are underrepresented in international aid projects. Our goal is to reach those who would not normally have access to scholarships or community resources.

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If you would like to learn more about Foothold, visit footholdinternational.org & consider joining us on October 5th for our annual fundraising Gala where we will draw the winner of this raffle. You can join us in person or online. For more information about our upcoming event, visit 2024 Foothold Wanderlust Gala.

OSU vs. Michigan Raffle

Win a chance at the Big Game & help stop gender-based violence around the world!

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