Developing Girls’ Agency through SRH Peer-to-Peer Education and Sports: The Girls Foundation of Tanzania

What if a girl could gain access to mentorship for the entire period of her education? The girl would then go on to use her story to inspire and mentor other girls creating a ripple effect; where girls pass it forward and are able to inspire agency among themselves to make informed decisions, pursue their education and thrive. Our partner, The Girls Foundation of Tanzania (TGFT) has brought this dream to life through their peer-to-peer SRH education program; an initiative for girls to learn and be taught by fellow girls who’ve gone through TGFT’s peer-peer advocacy training.

At AMPLIFY Girls, we believe in developing Girls’ Agency; a girl’s ability to affect change in her own life and influence change in others. Girls already have this ability, what they need is a platform to nurture and showcase this agency. AMPLIFY Girls’ Community-driven Organization (CDO) partners recognize this and are constantly innovating ways to give girls access to safe spaces and opportunities to develop their agency, make informed decisions about their lives and pursue their education.

When TFGT began its work in Tanzania in 2012, the vision was to support girls who dropped out of school in standard 7 and couldn’t afford to transition to secondary education.

‘Most of these girls would be expected by their families to become house girls instead.’ Estahappy, the Executive Director of TGTF tells us.

To ensure that vulnerable girls had a chance at education, TGFT officially began its sponsorship program in 2018. The program supports girls for 10 years, throughout their Secondary and University studies. 

To further support these girls, TGFT runs a girls’ center that hosts the girls during their gap year as they await to join university and during their school holidays. The girls’ center is a safe space for them to access mentorship, psychological support, skills, and opportunities that are otherwise not provided by the school curriculum. Estahappy tells us that the girls have come to call the Girls’ Centre their second home as they spend 75% of their school holidays there.

One of the programs that run during the holidays and have seen great success over the years is the ‘peer-to-peer advocacy program’- a program that aims to develop girls’ agency by nurturing them in Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) and other aspects of their lives. From self-awareness training, SRHR, comprehensive sexuality education, menstrual health, self-defense, and first-aid, TGFT trains the girls to grow holistically and eventually become peer educators at the end of their three months of training.

During the training program, the girls practice what they’ve learned by visiting schools in Tanzania to train students; this helps them develop the confidence to mentor students who then become peer educators in their schools. One of the peer mentors from the program, Lydia, shares her experience:

‘I did peer-to-peer advocacy during my gap year program. Our director Estahappy taught us to become a good peer educator on session delivery and the skills needed. After the training we went to advocate in schools, we visited 5 secondary schools in Karatu, 2 in Arusha, and 2 in Morogoro. We had topics to present, I presented about menstruation, pregnancy, self–awareness, and children’s rights. I gave a short story on my education to inspire them to perform well in their academics and we also did a demonstration of self-defense and first aid.’ – Lydia Richard, form 4 graduate 2021 - peer educator – TGFT.

Having the girls speak at schools and train other peer educators has greatly contributed to the growth of the peer-to-peer advocacy program. TGFT tells us that they’ve also been getting lots of requests from schools to conduct the program through school clubs. In response, TGFT now has peer educators who run the program in schools. This year (2022), the peer-to-peer advocacy program reached 6,594 students in 13 schools.

TGFT plans to increase these numbers in the coming year. They however recognize that integrating the program in public schools is a challenge with the government curriculum restrictions that give precedence to sports in government schools. 

‘Unlike private schools that are more receptive to the program, students in public schools have no time to participate and the teachers pay no attention to us.’  - Estahappy, ED - The Girls Foundation of Tanzania (TGFT)

To reach students in public schools that give more airtime to sports, TGFT innovated a way to conduct peer education through sports like soccer allowing the students to have fun while learning about their sexual reproductive health rights.

Community-driven Organizations (CDOs) like TGFT are dedicated to their work and are innovating ways to impact change in their communities. Programs like the peer-to-peer advocacy program develop Girls’ Agency to affect this change in their lives and communities. We must recognize the critical role that CDOs play through their innovation. TGFT notes that teachers in public schools can play a role in supporting their work by giving them access to reach students in government schools through extra-curricular activities such as school clubs and sports. 

Through the work of our partner organizations, AMPLIFY Girls has seen the incredible work that CDOs do with girls in communities. We join them in calling on Governments to recognize the critical role and influence of Community-driven Organizations and support their initiatives in communities and schools.

Want to be part of TGFT’s story and impact? Support their work.