British-Ghanian Sarah Boateng is a winning social entrepreneur investing in the education of girls across Africa.
She was recently named as a 30 under 30 change-maker. Through her experience working at the United Nations and other international development organizations, she created IGEA Enterprise which has a mission to support girls in rural communities in Africa achieve their educational potential
The 25 year old advocate who grew up in south London is a Psychology and Special Educational Needs Masters graduate.
She founded Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA), a non-profit organisation with a mission to deliver projects that support the quality education of girls in rural parts of Africa.
According to Sarah; “Our aim is to eliminate all barriers blocking girls in Africa from accessing quality education. These barriers can be physical, such as illness, menstruation, distance from school, or mental, such as cultural taboos and the social peer pressure that that creates on the individual. As we are currently at the beginning of our organisational journey, we are focusing our efforts on just one of these barriers to start with – period poverty.
Growing up, my own mother would often talk about her struggle to remain in education. Born and raised in rural Ghana, she left school at the age of 12 to sell oranges on the side of the road. It turns out she couldn’t afford menstrual products, and as a result she missed a large amount of school. As she wasn’t able to keep up with lessons, it made more sense for her to leave education completely and instead focus on making money to help support herself and her family.
Sarah has always believed that education is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people’s future, and the best solution for reducing poverty, catalysing economic growth and increasing individual income.
We celebrate Sarah for making lemonades from the lemons life threw at her, with her lived experience.
Thank you for touching lives and intentionally investing in Girls.
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