Scholarships that Change Lives:
We currently sponsor disadvantaged, orphaned and HIV/AIDS-affected girls in grades 9-12.
By sending a girl to school in Malawi, AGE Africa is helping to change the lives of not only individual scholars, but also their families, communities, and country.
Many of our girls are from the southern region of Malawi, where poverty and famine are most acute. Many also come from homes where parents are forced to make an unpleasant and difficult decision between feeding their children and sending them to school.
All of the girls attend government-sponsored schools (public schools), and were selected based on their academic merit and financial need. AGE pays for all the associated costs of schooling so, the girls can focus on school and families can support them in doing so.
Unfortunately, statistics and our first-hand experience have taught us that while a scholarship is one essential part of a girl’s achievement in school, by itself it is not enough to ensure that she finishes all four years of secondary education. In order to help our students succeed, AGE supports students with an extra-curricular Mentoring Program in Career Guidance and Life Skills education in order to address all the multiple causes of girls’ dropout.
A Scholar’s Experience in the US:
In the summer of 2009, together AGE Africa, in partnership with Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, brought one of our scholars over to the US for a summer of learning at PEA’s Summer Session.
Read the following note from Idah Savala’s advisor at Phillips Exeter Academy.
Reflections by Leslie Tufts:
Within the first week of Summer School, I could see that Idah was a very determined, bright young lady full of courage and poise. She made an amazing transition to a New Hampshire boarding school which must have seemed like another planet to her. As her advisor, I realized that I couldn’t waste a minute helping Idah experience things that were so new and challenging for her. So, I suggested she try figure skating. We walked into the ice rink and immediately she felt the cold temperature, about 40 degrees colder than anything she had ever felt before. I bundled her up; hat, gloves, socks, coat, and of course ice skates. She walked around to get used to the skates and then ventured out onto the ice with two skating teachers by her side. Idah instantly became the ultimate student of skating, attentively listening to every word of instruction. She persisted, kept moving forward and after an hour, she actually skated slowly around the entire rink without holding on, and without falling. Miraculous! I could see her determination to conquer something so profoundly foreign to her. This is who Idah is – a very bright young woman who carried that same courage and determination with her throughout the summer.
AGE Alumn Ida Savala
