Kisa Project is a two-year leadership course that prepares girls in their last two years of secondary school to attend university and create positive social change in their communities.
Kisa means “story” in Swahili. Through the Kisa Project, young Tanzanian women are empowered to become the creative authors of their own future stories.
Overview
The Kisa Project empowers some of Tanzania’s brightest and most motivated young women to reach their full potential and be catalysts for change in their communities. Young women in Tanzania are not generally taught to believe they are equal to their male counterparts, and rarely have role models to show them otherwise. Kisa gives young women the confidence and skills they need to reach their personal potential, pursue excellence in leadership, prepare for future employment, and initiate and contribute to meaningful change in their communities and the broader society.
How Kisa Project Works
Meet Mathilda
Mathilda is a 17-year-old girl living in Tanzania who has made it to upper secondary school. Even at this last step before university, girls are generally told they are inferior to boys and less than 3% of women in Tanzania reach university. The two-year long Kisa Project provides positive female role models who help girls like Mathilda reach their full potential as individuals, community members, and Leaders
The Kisa Effect
Mathilda will learn leadership and life skills aimed at helping her to graduate secondary school, go on to university, and become a leader who positively impacts her community. In fact, 97% of Kisa Scholars continue on to university. The outcome is proactive, resilient, and socially-responsible girls who secure better jobs, raise healthier families, and increase the standing of women in society.
Kisa Classes
Weekly Kisa Classes taught by university-educated, female Mentors form the core of the Kisa Project. Mathilda will learn about developing personal leadership skills, building relationships, and creating a positive vision for her community.
Health Symposium
GLAMI partners with health experts to connect Scholars to local resources and reinforce wellness topics. The participatory sessions focus on personal relationships, feminine hygiene, sexual activity, family planning, FGM, HIV/AIDS, and drugs and alcohol, among other topics.
Career Day
Career Day provides an informed approach for Mathilda to choose a career path. Speakers share stories about overcoming adversity and small group sessions give the opportunity to network and ask questions of successful Tanzanian women.
Year 1 Presentations
At the end of Year One, Mathilda will conduct a community assessment and present a creative solution in front of a panel of her peers and community judges. This is the first (but not the last!) time Mathilda will stand in front of an audience to share her own ideas.
2 Day Challenge
During her capstone project, Mathilda will apply knowledge gained in the classroom in a real-world setting while bringing direct benefit to her community. She will work in a group to complete a community service project and demonstrate that girls are capable of initiating positive change.
Additional Kisa Benefits
Scholars also have access to the Student Emergency Fund, and University Scholarships to provide financial support and better prepare Scholars for life after the Kisa Project.