How skills are giving Kigoma girls a second chance

Girls in Kigoma know what it means for a young woman’s hopes to disappear—and what it means to have them restored.

For them, the turning point came when they encountered the Wezesha Binti programme, an initiative helping them regain confidence, acquire skills and begin looking at their future not through the limitations surrounding them, but through the possibilities ahead.

“I never knew I could still have value in this world after failing to get the marks that would allow me to continue to advanced-level secondary education. I believe God has answered my prayers,” says Sofia Ombeni, one of the girls.

Sofia’s story reflects a wider change taking place in Kigoma, where efforts to keep girls in education are increasingly moving beyond the classroom to address what happens afterwards.

That shift matters because, for many Tanzanian girls, completing school has historically not guaranteed a pathway to economic independence.