- ‘Pedra’ is the Portuguese word for ‘rock’. It is also a shortened form of the Portuguese ‘Programa para Educação da Rapariga–‘Program for Girls’ Education’. It’s a program for girls aged 10 and older which provides educational enrichment, counsels and trains girls in making wise life choices, and develops self-confidence in their ability to learn. It aims to give girls a foundation for life which is solid as a ‘rock’.
- There are currently 300 girls enrolled in Pedra, in the provincial capital of Quelimane in Zambezia province, and in 4 distant rural communities.
- Often in Mozambique, families do not give priority to education for daughters. Yet a national slogan in Mozambique is ‘To Educate a Girl Is To Educate a Nation’. Girls with education become role models for their own families and communities. No factor correlates more strongly with socio-economic development than girls’ education.
- Once girls complete the years of schooling available in their community (in rural areas, usually grade 6), the program provides bursaries so that they can travel to the nearest community which offers the senior grades. It pays their school fees, school residence accommodation, living expenses like health care and hygiene products, and travel to and from home at term end.
- The bursaries also allow them to continue into vocational training in a field of their choice, such as health-care, teaching, and agricultural extension service.
Meet a Pedra Bursary Girl
Piedade Carlitos is a bursary girl from the district of Maquiringa in Zambezia province, Mozambique. She has 7 brothers and sisters. Her parents are poor rural farmers.
When Piedade was in grade 3, she saw her elder sisters getting married, just because their father could not afford to sustain the whole family at home and in school.
But at school she heard about the Pedra program and, seeing other girls learning in Pedra, she asked one of her teachers to suggest to her father to let her join, by explaining its benefits. Her father was convinced. Piedade joined Pedra and, since then, learned how to embroider, dance, and sing, of course not forgetting writing and reading and mathematics, which got boosted by means of the Pedra program.
After grade 7, she feared that she would have the same destiny as her elder sisters. But thanks to the parent-teacher meetings he attended in Pedra, her father heard about the bursary program and encouraged her to apply. Her father was so happy when his daughter was awarded a bursary which allowed her to continue.
Now, Piedade is finishing grade 12 in the district capital of Namarroi. Currently, Piedade’s dream is to become a teacher so that with her income she can help her family. She asks the bursary program to continue assisting her until she’s able to fulfill her dream.
Pedra Relief Africa 