Canadian Harambee Education Society
Giving girls the chance to educate themselves

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  "Harambee" is Swahili for "pull together"

Special projects

Tanzanian Project (CYWAHA)

Tanzania has no local non-for-profit organizations to sponsor girls after high school. CHES will continue to sponsor any girl that qualifies for further education.

But few of the girls qualify for higher education. In 1999, CHES began a number of projects with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for funding to help provide tutoring, workshops, and short-term training to improve the chances of employment for the girls.

Among the project's achievements are:

• tutoring sessions for the CHES girls, especially in English and math
• short-term training to help those girls who have the greatest difficulty finding work, including computers skills, typing and sewing courses
• life-skill workshops, covering AIDS/HIV, study skills, self assertiveness, the environment, women’s roles in community, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Many of the trainers, assistants and presenters were CYWAHA girls and local women in the community as well as liaison teachers.

Kenyan Project (CHWABOT) 2003-2006

CHWABOT was a project to compliment the CHES scholarship programme in Kenya. Called 'World of Women Capacity Building’, it was built upon the World of Women micro-loan and workshop program started in 2001.

The three-year project was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency from 2003 to 2006.

CHES worked with the CHES Women’s Association Board of Trustees (CHWABOT) who was our Southern partner on the ground in Kenya. This Kenyan Board of Trustees was made up of Kenyan teachers, former CHES assisted students, and business and professional people in the community. They were responsible for administering the project in Kenya and reporting back to CHES on their progress.

The Project met its objectives to:

• run annual workshops for all CHES assisted girls, covering math skills, study skills, resume writing, business plan development, HIV/AIDS awareness, and assertiveness training
• create the Opportunity Research Centre (ORC) to help girls after high school, when they often fall back into poverty and are at risk for pregnancy and AIDS. The ORC provided funding for courses such as computer training or sewing, and supported girls with their income-generating ideas
• help students who become ill during the school year
• buy text books and library books.