Our Mission

Our mission is to educate and empower girls

Many factors impact a girl's ability to attend school and excel. We accomplish our mission through:

Education

We identify out-of-school children and work with their families to enroll them in school. Bright Minds Primary School and Bright Minds Academy, a boarding school for girls, provide previously out-of-school children with a pathway to high school and university. We support local schools with teacher trainings, library development, and infrastructure. Our Scholarship Program supports students of all ages, from preschool to university. 

Literacy

Our Library Development Program tackles functional illiteracy within schools and communities where children do not have access to books. Our librarians offer daily programming including learn-to-read programs, homework help, and book clubs.

Healthcare

We are ending the cycle of mother and infant malnutrition, vertical transmission of HIV, and death during childbirth through three interventions targeting different stages of the cycle: 

Our Thriving Families Program provides a holistic intervention for children with severe malnutrition, HIV, or other life-threatening conditions and includes home and hospital visits for the child and health education for the family. 

Our Girls and Boys Clubs empower adolescents through reproductive health classes, lifeskills, and leadership skills. 

Our Young Mothers Support Group connects teenage mothers with antenatal visits, nutritional support, hospital births, childhood vaccinations, family planning, and support from their peers. 

Clean Water

Our Clean Water Projects provide much-needed water infrastructure to communities experiencing water insecurity. A team of local contractors dig up to 180 meters deep, tapping into aquifers that supply year-round water. Our Clean Water Projects prevent waterborne diseases and allow girls to enroll in school instead of spending 30 hours a week carrying water from distant, contaminated streams.

Economic Stability

Our Microfinance Program provides start-up capital and guidance for unemployed women to start small businesses, enabling families to provide for their children's education and healthcare.

"Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity; it is an act of justice." Nelson Mandela