'Investing in the Power of Women and the Dreams of Girls'

Amanda Lindhout, the Alberta journalist who was kidnapped and held hostage in Somalia for 15 months until her ransomed release in November 2009, has chosen to set up this program as a way to support women in Somalia. She is passionate about sharing her belief that educating the women of Somalia is the means to create sustainable change.

Somalia’s natural beauty has been marred by over two decades of conflict, famine and violence, and its economy and political structure have been devastated. Twenty years of unrelenting war in Southern Somalia has produced generations of youth who have never known anything but conflict and the instability has given rise to increasingly onerous and repressive laws that restrict the freedoms of the entire population. In addition, Somalia ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average family of seven living on only $1.36 per day and over 40% of the population relying on international aid to survive.

Women, in particular, are facing serious oppression, and their rights to basic freedoms to work or have an education have been severely restricted or forbidden. Bans on women’s movements in public are profoundly curtailing their ability to address their basic needs. In 2010 fewer then 1 in 4 Somali girls have the opportunity to get an elementary education and less then 4% of these girls will go on to pursue post secondary education.

To respond to this crisis, The Global Enrichment Foundation and the Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation have become partners in the Somali Women’s Scholarship Program.

Even the dire political and social climate of the country today has not robbed the admirable Somali people of their hope for a better future. Women in Somalia are limited by poverty and oppression, but not by a lack of desire for education.

The Somali Women’s Scholarship Program is founded on the concept that each woman has the potential to make substantial contributions to he future development of Somalia. We aim to support and encourage the development of leadership qualities in women. The Scholarships are looking to identify, specifically, those promising women who are natural gifted leaders who know they can make a difference in Somalia.

In our application process we ask each young woman to share her vision of what Somalia could be, and how, with the education we will fund for her she can create lasting change in her own community. We are working with Universities across Somalia, all of which operate with a mandate of gender equality.

Each Scholarship grants the recipient full University tuition and fees for each year of her program. In addition, the women are provided with a living allowance, enabling them to focus on their studies without the burden of poverty. In 2010, ten women were awarded scholarships to Somalian Universities and we are excited to hear how their experience unfolds.

Education is a tool to create sustainable change in Somalia: a means for women to transform themselves and their communities. With your help, we can pave the way for a generation of female leaders, to hope, dream and change the future of their country-and to take their rightful role in it.

Project website: globalenrichmentfoundation.com