Vocational Training at YLF
At Yarang Llamisi Foundation, we believe in the adage that “when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.” This is why our primary focus has been on the formal education of young girls. In fact, it is at the heart of what we do to ensure that young girls in our community receive a quality education, an education that gives them a fighting chance at a better life.“
It is no secret that Nigeria, as a third world country, is plagued by several challenges that hinder its
development. From the low GDP rate to the insurgency and domestic terrorism that threatens the peace and learning of school children, many are girls that have been violently abducted from their schools.
Nigeria is going through a crisis that is negatively impacting the formal education of both girls and boys. To make matters worse, the schools are grossly ill-equipped, they lack infrastructure, and the teachers are severely underpaid. All these mitigating factors result in the lack of good basic
education.
So why do we do what we do? Because we know girls are worth it.
When we educate girls, teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, infant mortality rates,
and maternal mortality rates significantly decrease. Knowing the implications of unprotected sex and
learning the dangers in constructive ways empowers girls to deny peer pressures and influence each
other to make wise choices. Literate mothers attend ANC visits; they adopt safe birthing methods that
ensure their children’s lives. They immunise their children because they can understand the value. A
WHO factsheet reports that when a child is born to a woman in Africa who hasn’t received an
education, they have a 1 in 5 chance of dying before 5. This is an unacceptable statistic. So we are
investing in the future by educating our girls
When we educate girls, it reduces the chances of Child marriage. Evidence shows that girls who attend secondary school are three times less likely to be child brides. Educating girls provides them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions about if, when and who they marry. When a child becomes a bride, it almost always ends her education in a formal school setting. This exposes the child-bride to so many injustices like poverty, abuse, health complications resulting from childbirth, just to mention a few. The child-bride barely has the knowledge she needs to have a healthy family and often becomes a mother while still being a child. Girl education ensures that a girl can break the cultural practices of early marriage and aspire to reach great potential for the benefit of many.
Educating girls helps alleviate poverty. A UN study reported that even with just Primary school education, a woman has better economic prospects and a greater chance of escaping poverty. A further study found that when women work, they invest 90% of their earnings back into their families when compared to men who only invest about 35%. Thus, when a woman earns a reasonable wage, she secures her children and family’s future and contributes to the community and economy’s growth.“
Educating girls decreases support for Militancy. Nigeria has endured its fair share of ongoing terrorism and militancy, which is often supported and enabled by men and women. It’s heartbreaking when children are indoctrinated with such ideologies. However, studies have shown that as women become more educated, they are less likely to support militancy and terrorism than similarly educated men. As a vulnerable group, women and girls suffer firsthand the violence that comes with terrorism and militancy. However, they are strategically positioned to reject such ideologies with the proper education
Women are change agents. We have already established how they significantly impact their families and communities. When we educate girls, they are more likely to pay it forward by returning to their communities and affecting change. Whether it’s a Malala Yousafzai advocating for girl education or a Greta Thunberg fighting to save the planet, it’s undeniable the influence education has had on these young women and how they are shaping and changing the world. In Nigeria, we have so manychallenges and the enormous untapped potential of girls all over our nation who deserve the chance
to shape their world for a better tomorrow. Because of this and many more reasons, we have been working hard to bring hope to young girls by inspiring and supporting their education. Since our launch in July 2020, we have been able to fully fund free tutorials for girls (and boys) in Zambuk and its environs. We supported the students preparing for the WAEC and NECO examinations, so the gap in a school structured studying during the Covid_19 Pandemic wouldn’t affect their chances of success.
In honour of the international day of the girl, we launched the maiden edition of an annual essay writing competition with the theme “My Voice Our Equal Future.” We received so many entries from girls within and outside Gombe, all beautiful voices united in purpose, and the desire to see that all young girls in Nigeria live free from violence and harmful practices that hinder them from achieving their full potential. We gave cash prizes to five winners. We supported 490 families in the payment of PTA dues across schools in
Yamaltu/ Deba LGA, Gombe State. This was to enable the students to get the extra facilities that the PTA dues support. Typically, parents agree to this levy to support school structures in their communities that struggle with funding so that the students will not be affected by the lack thereof.
Due to the recession and the financial hardships endured in 2020, YLF saw the need to step in and lessen this burden. We donated school uniforms to 150 pupils of Sirankiwo Primary School of Akko
LGA in Gombe State. Our goal is simple. To work at removing barriers to girls receiving formal education by any means necessary. We continue to deploy strategies aimed at keeping our girls in the classrooms and hope
you will partner with us to do the same.