Girls’ Education Charities
What should you investigate when considering which girls’ education charities to support? Here are some questions to ask an organization, followed by GFA World’s responses as examples of how an organization might respond:
Is your organization focused on a specific geographical area?
If you have a passion for certain areas of the world, this is an important question to ask. Perhaps you want to support educational efforts in your local area, or maybe you prefer to help girls in developing countries around the world. There are various organizations that focus on specific regions. Other girls’ education charities focus on refugees or girls in crisis situations.
GFA World’s answer: For decades, we’ve worked in South Asia, concentrating on the poorest and underserved communities. We’ve recently started working in Africa, too, and look forward to serving girls and families in this region as well.
Is the organization focused on a specific age range?
Some organizations focus on pre-school or elementary age children, creating opportunities for young girls to learn basic reading, writing and math skills. Other girls’ education charities concentrate on high school girls to prepare them for life beyond school or to advance to university.
GFA World’s answer: We serve all ages of girls and women, from babies to elderly women. We serve entire communities through practical solutions and help some of the poorest girls in the world gain an education. For many families, it is a matter of helping relieve financial stress so that children can stay in school rather than joining the labor force.
GFA World also provides literacy classes for women. The ability to read brings life-changing benefits for women in a developing country. It opens up the possibility of higher-paying jobs and gives them the ability to read warning labels, ingredients and street signs. Literate women can read to their children and help them with their homework. Parents who can read are more likely to commit to keeping their children in school.
Who are the workers in the charities that help children’s education?
A great question to ask an educational organization is, ”Who does the work?” Some organizations work directly in the schools, while others train teachers or administrators.
GFA World’s answer: We use national missionaries in Asia and Africa to help people in their own communities. As part of their communities, national missionaries instinctively know how to best minister to the people in the communities they serve. Women missionaries in particular work very effectively with the girls and women in these cultures. They are able to work in homes, schools, churches, leprosy colonies, slums and through children’s programs to help with tutoring and literacy training.
Today, more than 85 percent of Asian countries do not allow Western missionaries to minister freely. This restriction doesn’t apply to the many men and women the Lord has called to be national missionaries. When foreigners have to leave countries for various reasons, these brothers and sisters can stay and minister without interruption.1
Is the work a short-term mission or is it sustainable long-term?
It is wise to find out if the organization plans to remain in the area for decades or if they are working short-term for a few months or years. You may also want to ask what happens when the organization leaves that community.
GFA World’s answer: Our missionaries live in the same regions they serve. We’ve worked in many communities for more than 40 years and plan to continue serving those communities for decades to come.
Is investing in girls’ education beneficial for growth?
How an organization answers this question is a good indicator of its motives for completing its mission. They may focus on providing hope for the individual girl or speak about the growth that education gives to a community and economy.
GFA World’s answer: Educating girls changes the child, the family and the community. When girls receive an education, they can see past their present circumstances to a better future. They can see themselves as the catalyst for breaking the cycle of poverty their family has experienced for generations. Their community and economy will change, too, as women are equipped to work in more sectors.
Selecting one of the many education charity organizations to support is a challenging decision, but with the right questions, the correct organization will rise above the rest.
GFA World is committed to walking alongside girls and women as they reach their education and literacy goals. One of the ways GFA World helps girls is through child sponsorship. Sponsored children and their families receive critical help such as tutoring, access to clean water, school supplies, medical check-ups, nutritious food and more.
GFA World also offers literacy classes for women of all ages. In some areas of Asia and Africa, many women never learned to read and write because they didn’t attend school, often as a result of poverty. For those women, literacy changes their lives and gives them hope for a better future for their families.
Please join us in this quest to see girls and women receive hope for the future.
Learn more about child labor definition1 “National Missionaries.” GFA World. Accessed 5 February 2022. https://www.gfa.org/sponsor/why-national-missionaries.