"Bright new hope for girls": Education for girls and young women in Shinyanga, Tanzania
Supporting girls and young women in Tanzania who face barriers to basic education and career development.
Auckland
This page was created in collaboration with my friend Lucy Thomas, a local pastor in Shinyanga region of Tanzania, who is in charge of a project (titled "Bright new hope for girls") supporting young women in her region to overcome barriers to completing their education.
When I met Pastor Lucy in May 2024, I was working in Shinyanga as a volunteer optometrist. As I learnt about local life, one of the most shocking facts I learnt was that many girls miss out on school when on their period due to stigma, limited access to sanitary products and information about menstrual hygiene management. That's up to a week of school missed every month, which leads to falling behind and dropping out. There are also tribes that do not agree for girls to finish school and instead they are required to be married at a young age.
Other barriers to completing education include the need for school supplies such as stationery and uniforms, which can be a big financial burden for some families.
Beyond my brief stay in Tanzania providing eye care services, I wish to contribute further to address this important issue faced by girls and young women in the places that I've had the privilege of visiting. Your donation would go a long way in supporting this goal.
Lillian Lei's involvement (page creator)
The chair of this non-profit project, Lucy Thomas, is a friend of mine and pastor in the remote communities of Shinyanga, Tanzania. We met in May 2024 when I was working as a volunteer optometrist in Shinyanga.
Use of funds
19/09/2025
Funds will also go towards reducing barriers to education for female students, including sanitary products
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Scholarships, educational resources and running of mentorship and leadership programmes primarily for school aged girls and young women aged 5 to 20 years in Shinyanga region of Tanzania.
Latest update
New childcare centre in Busongo 13 April 2026
“The plans for this childcare center are to start with the children we had, we were providing support to children living in difficult circumstances and orphans as well as those with special needs where they will study for free, also for children who do not have any problems they will pay normally so that a balance can be found to develop children in need. Other goals of the center are to find stakeholders who will support me to pay the building rent for at least six months In order to organize ourselves well, we will have our own building. Other needs needed include food for children, school uniforms, notebooks, a children's swing, a fence, as well as sports equipment.
I was thinking of having various development projects such as entrepreneurship. In order to ensure that these children start to be educated from the ground up by helping them, then in the future it will be easier because there will be projects that will support them in one way or another.”
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