Our 2017 Impact Report

We kicked off a fantastic year for EGG with the co-founders, Lucy and Gussie, travelling overseas to Malawi to visit the projects and see the impact EGG has had in its first four years of operation. The pair were greeted by the friendly and wonderful Ann Page, from Build A School (EGG’s partnered organisation). One of the highlights for Lucy and Gussie was meeting all of the people in Malawi who had been part of EGG’s story since the early days. It was hugely valuable to visit the construction projects EGG has funded, and to see what future work might be done. Overall, the trip was hugely motivating for EGG and has given fresh perspective to the work EGG continues to do.

The EGG community watched the Kabuthu Girls’ Hostel project eagerly as it was built during 2017. By May, the walls were up and roof over the four-dormitory building, and work was being done to finish the walls inside. By June, the pointing and finishing of the exterior was being completed, and the walls inside were smooth and polished. In Late August, we were delighted to receive photo updates showing the hostel with the painted details on the exterior facade, and doors and windows in. At this point, EGG organised the construction of bunk beds to be started, and the carpenters began their work on beds for 40 girls. The team at Build A School headed to the markets to collect sheets and bedding, and mattresses were bought with EGG funds. In October, the new beds were stacked high on a truck, and transported to the new hostel. By this time, the finishing touches had been done to the building, and were ready for the girls to move into their new home.

The opening ceremony for the hostel at Kabuthu Secondary School took place in late October. The girls sang songs, wrote poems, danced and thanked all those who had contributed to the new hostel. 40 girls moved in to the building, safe and sound and right next to the school. Excitement ran high for EGG as we celebrated the largest and most complicated project yet - all in the name of girls’ education! We were relieved to be enabling so many girls to pursue their education, and for them to feel safe and comfortable to do so. 

Throughout the year, EGG focussed on administration, and took on a new look with a smart new website. The website was refreshed with a blog, the ability to take online donations, and a new way of displaying completed and current projects. We made it easier for the community to connect with our organisation, and to stay involved. 

We established an EGG committee in Auckland, for people who wanted to be involved with the running of the organisation. This led to regular meetings and wider discussion about where EGG’s impact could lie. We were able to organise two fundraising events from this committee - a sausage sizzle barbecue and a quiz night. These events targeted different communities and proved to be successful fundraisers. 

We kept in contact with our schools who, once again, donated generously to EGG’s cause. Schools from across Australia and New Zealand held fundraising events and sent their donations in by the end of the year. We were once again inspired and encouraged by the stories of different fundraisers held by students, for the purpose of improving the education of girls on the other side of the world. 

In September, EGG announced its next project and focus: two classrooms at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. Gussie and Lucy had visited the camp when they were in Malawi earlier in the year, and recognised the needs of the children there. The EGG community responded with enthusiasm and vigor, and we were grateful for the donations we received for the project. Because of these donations, we were able to start construction at the refugee camp quite quickly. The foundations and early construction works had already been started by another donor, who had run out of funding, so the project was easy enough to kick off. Construction for this project had started as we celebrated the end of 2017. 

A huge thank you to everyone who helped and supported EGG this year. The response to every project and goal we had was hugely positive, and we are so grateful for that. For those of you that have followed EGG over the years, and continue to support it in whatever way you have, thank you. We look forward to seeing what can be achieved for girls’ education in 2018.

Our 2016 Impact Report

From high school fundraiser events across New Zealand and Australia, to the announcement and start of construction for a huge new project, Educating Girls Globally has had a successful year in 2016. Here is a brief overview of what was achieved month-by-month last year:

In March we celebrated International Women's Day, reflecting on the success of the recently completed projects at Lilongwe Girls' School. These projects included a new security wall, which was constructed on the boundary of the girls' school, to prevent intruders from coming into the school to distract or harass the girls, and vandalise the buildings.  It also included the construction of two new toilet blocks. The school previously had only one outdoor pit latrine for more than 500 girls, which was inadequate and unsanitary, and meant the girls had to wait long periods to use the toilet. 

In April, EGG was asked to speak at the YLead 2016 Leadership Summit, hosted by Westlake Girls High school in Auckland. Lucy represented EGG, and spoke to the students about EGG and what it does for girls' education. 

In July, EGG announced an exciting new project: the girls' hostel at Kabuthu Community Day Secondary School, in Kabuthu, Malawi. This was the largest project EGG had taken on to date, and was able to go ahead thanks to the enormous effort of schools across Australia and New Zealand in raising money for EGG over 2015 and the first half of 2016. The need for the project came to the attention of EGG through our partner organisation, Build A School. They recognised that the girls of Kabuthu were living in very poor conditions in order to attend school each day. In partnership with them, we came up with plans for the first stage of the hostel, to accomodate 40 girls on site. They gave us plans and details of where the money would go and how much the project would cost. We confirmed the project in early July. Later in July, the construction began for the girls' hostel, with the chosen site very close to the school itself.  The construction began with the building being marked out, and foundations being laid at the site. In the same month, Lucy spoke on a service leadership panel at the National Leadership Camp in Australia about EGG. She was able to explain EGG's impact to almost 100 students, enabling them to consider what they might do in their communities to serve and empower others. Following this, EGG was able to sign up some more Australian high schools to its cause. 

In August, St Margaret's College in Christchurch raised money for EGG by running an International themed Mufti Day at their school. This fundraiser, among the others that were being run throughout 2016 by our fantastic pledged schools, allowed us to start thinking about what EGG's next project might look like. Later in August, the walls started going up on the construction site for the girls' hostel at Kabuthu. 

By September, the girls' hostel at Kabuthu was coming along well, with the construction of the brick walls rising gradually. The soak-away for the shower and latrine area of the hostel was being dug out the back and filled in with large rocks. 

In October, EGG received another update from Build A School about the girls' hostel. The windows and doors had started being built in to the hostel! The project was really beginning to come together. We stayed in constant contact with Build A School, who could give us updates right from the site in Malawi, and tell us if they came across any challenges. During the construction process, many challenges did arise: for instance, when construction workers and contractors came down with malaria; when the community suffered from famine which was the result of a two year drought in the area; and when the monsoon rains came during the rainy season, and damaged roofing timbers. We are thankful for the relationship we have with Build A School, and their communication of both the challenges and triumphs during the construction of this project. Later in October, we celebrated International Day of the Girl. This day was a good one to reflect on the work we were continuing in aid of the education of girls. Throughout the year, we had continued posts to our social media community about the importance of girls' education. Part of our campaign for girls' education involves raising awareness of the issues girls in the developing world face when trying to receive an education. We will continue to promote the need for global education of girls, and share about the benefits to the wider community when girls are educated. 

In November, we were able to update the community about the girls' boarding hostel again. The walls were now up on the building, and roof timbers on, ready to go ahead with the roofing.

EGG received a donation in December of over $1700, which we decided to put towards bedding for the girls' hostel, which by now was coming along very well. The girls would need bunk beds in their new home, and we developed plans with Build A School to incorporate lockable drawers underneath the bunks to keep their belongings safe. We also hoped to cover the costs of bedding, sheets and pillows with this donation. By the end of the year, our plans were well in place for the very first EGG trip to Malawi for January of 2017. 2016 had been a brilliant year for EGG, but we were hugely excited to reach 2017 and visit the projects and people involved with EGG in Malawi!

The construction of the girls' hostel was the largest challenge we took on for 2016, and it would not have been possible without the support of our generous sponsors, donors and participating high schools. The girls' hostel, while not yet totally finished (although completion is due very soon!) is the product of hundreds of volunteer hours, thousands of generous hands and hearts, and a community's labour of love. In itself, the building is a symbol of sheer determination for the education and empowerment of girls. 

We see the building as a statement that girls deserve to be educated. It tells the community that we value girls and we believe they should go to school; that going to school should be easy. 

Next month, 40 girls will move into the hostel, and going to school will be easy for them. They will not have to walk 8 kilometres one way to school; their families will not have the pressure of finding money to cover costs of their rent in lodgings nearby; they will not lie awake at night in fear of intrusion and rape. 

Those girls will feel safe, secure and comfortable. They will have each other to lean on when it gets hard, and missing out on schooling will not be an option. Who knows what those girls, and the girls following them in the hostel in years to come, will go on to achieve? 

So, on behalf of those 40 girls, thank you for supporting EGG for another year. 

"Investing in girls' education is the very best thing we can do, not just for our daughters and granddaughters, but for their families, their communities, and their countries." - Michelle Obama.