In Guinea, young girls are forced to leave school around puberty, through fear of ridicule or the opportunity to have a family. Shown through the net attendance rate falling from 66% at primary school level, to only 13% at upper secondary level.

The URBOND Child Education Programme is working to address this issue and improve access to primary education within the community. As part of this effort we will be travelling again to the Republic of Guinea in October 2022 to build sanitary facilities, which will benefit 1,000+ children each year. We already have 12 volunteers booked to join us and would like to appeal for your support.

In 2021 the charity has worked with the support of the UK Embassy and a local school (Ecole Primary, in Dubreka, Rep. of Guinea) to send a group of specialists to deliver Gender Equality workshops devised specifically to help tackle this known issue in the region. The workshops focused on issues that affect young girls education such as menstruation, lack of clean toilet facilities, bullying, lack of income, classes being overcrowded, etc. In addition, URBOND volunteer groups supported the building of a school library and computer room, which is greatly benefitting Ecole Primary and the local community. Over 15,000 people benefitting from these facilities each year.

URBOND has been able to directly support the school in tackling child education issues by contributing towards teacher salaries and donating study materials in the form of books, textbooks and stationery. Some children travel as far as 10km and have to make a perilous trip across the river to reach the school each day whilst many drop out of education all together because they are not able to cover the costs associated.

We are proudly supporting the school and its students in rising to these challenges and have been happy to see pass rates increase from 44% to 79% during the 3 years that we have been working with them. The valuable input of our organisation and our generous members is positively impacting the community and the addition of a library and computer room will significantly improve the educational opportunities for many children in the area both now and in the future.

Please support our work, together we can change lives and build a better world.