Education can give Alinafe and Nyaing a better future

Alinafe is 20 years old and in her final year at university in the capital Blantyre. She says she wants more from her life than just staying at home in the village and growing food.

- I want to help my village. We are very far from hospitals and it is difficult to get medicine when we get sick. That's why I want to train as a pharmacist and have a small pharmacy in the village. Then people can come to me and get medicine and good advice.

Many girls drop out of school

Alinafe feels comfortable and safe with everyone she knows in her village, but she is saddened when many girls are forced to leave school after just a few years. This happens when families cannot afford to pay school fees.

Several children in Alinafe's village have been helped to pay their school fees with the help of a support organization working in the area. They gave Alinafe the chance to stay in school and further their education.

- Soon I can start helping others in my village, just like the organizations and sponsors helped me," says Alinafe with a smile.

Long way to school

Nyaing is eleven years old and lives in northern Laos. The people who live here grow rice and other things they need. Most of them have food and get by, but they live quite poorly. Clean water, health care and schools can be far from where they live.

In many villages, most people can go to school up to fifth grade. Then children drop out or have to travel a long way to get to a school that has the higher grades. Those who have a long way to go to school may have the opportunity to stay in a boarding school and visit their families every other weekend. Then they have to go home.

Nyaing is in her first year of secondary school, which is equivalent to grade 6 in Sweden. She is lucky to live near the school. She tells us:
- I like most of the subjects in school and especially when there is dance on the schedule. My favorite game at recess is Rattanball and in the evenings I like to watch ThaiTV.

In Nyaing village there is no electricity. Homework is therefore done by torchlight, or early in the morning as soon as it is light. Nyaing can watch TV with a teacher who has connected it to a car battery.

School gives confidence in the future

For both Alinafe and Nyaing, life in the villages is tough. Many adults around them have only had one or two years of schooling. With an education, the girls can have a better future without poverty.

This text was originally published on April 1, 2018.