b+c news

It has been a little while since we have been in touch. What have we been up to you ask? You may recall that we were in discussions with an inspiring group who in only four years managed to rally together to build the infrastructure to support 600 local students. The success of the school is due to the strong ownership that the community feels for the school and their excellent management skills.

We had previously heard of the great work of Got Matar and during our visit to Kenya we had the privilege to meet some of the extraordinary members of the Community Development Group who have been working tirelessly to give local children the best start they deserve.

b+c is teaming up with the school to design a much needed girls dormitory. Currently there is an extremely high drop out rate for girls as they travel long distances each day whilst still being expected to keep up their domestic duties at home. Not only this, the walk from home to school can be an extremely dangerous one. A dormitory will allow the girls to focus on their study providing them with a greater chance of completing their secondary education.

One of the exciting aspects of this project is that the building of the dormitory will run as a training program. This will provide an opportunity for the students and members of the surrounding community to learn basic skills in carpentry, bricklaying and the fundamentals in building design.

We are currently discussing the brief with the Community Development Group and the girls of Got Matar. We are thrilled to be sharing our passion for good design with Got Matar and proud to be continuing the support of Kenyan girls in furthering their education. We look forward to sharing stories of the road ahead with you all.

You can find more information on Got Matar and read all about other exciting initiatives that they have started by visting www.gotmatar.org

invest in a girl and she will do the rest.

This is a brilliant video and I couldn't resist watching it 3 times in a row.  It left me with chills and feeling very inspired. 

There are 600 million adolescent girls around the world living in poverty.  By giving one of these girls a chance, you start what can be referred to as The Girl Effect.  When girls have safe places to meet, education, legal protection, health care, and access to training and job skills, they can thrive.  And when they thrive, everyone around them thrives too. 

If you want to end poverty and help the developing world, the best thing you can do is invest time, energy, and funding into adolescent girls.  It's called the girl effect, because girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities and making the world better.   The following poster outlines 10 things that are standing in their way...

If you want to read more, go to girleffect.org