Why Focus on Girls?
Girls are our future - our future mothers, teachers and leaders.  But in the impoverished rural areas of Asia, girls rarely have the chance.  Of the fifteen million baby girls born in India each year, nearly 25% will not live to see their 15th birthday. Their life story begins in grinding poverty and is one of ignorance and desperation - a cycle that repeats itself from mother to daughter, generation to generation.  If girls escape infanticide, they can be forced to marry as young as 8 or 9 or sold into prostitution or bonded labour.  Pregnancy rates are highest among the poor and numerous pregnancies rob mothers of health, energy and the ability to nurture and provide. Children burden the family and young daughters are trapped with a responsibility beyond their years - tending siblings or working the land or market stall - robbing them of their childhood.

In Asia, girls are a commodity around which cultural traditions are deeply entrenched. The notion of girls’ education among the poor is rare. Why educate a girl who will be married off at 9 years old?  Even if the modest school fees, transportation or uniforms were affordable, why would they be wasted on a girl?  There are 25 million illiterate women in the single state of Bihar, India. But we know attitudes can change.

The key to breaking this cycle of ignorance and poverty is EDUCATION and the education of girls is only possible through FREE education. A FREE EDUCATION is the key to empowering girls with choices that will increase her economic value to her family and community.

Education means eyes can be opened, minds can be inspired and hearts can be filled with hope for a different path in life.

The FreeSchools syllabus is practical and straightforward with the following benefits:

The 3 R’s – learning to read and write in their native language, or as in the case of refugees, in the language that will enable them to cope in a world not their own. 

Hygiene and Health – applying personal health and hygiene habits that will result in lessening the spread of AIDS and other communicable diseases, lower birth rates and infant mortality.

Income generating skills – mastering the art of weaving, sewing, crafts and other skills which will generate income that doesn’t involve selling themselves.

FreeSchools provides more than education. We provide an opportunity to break the cycle, and empower young girls to choose their own path in life. To do this, they need more than skills. They need confidence gained through self-respect. They need to play and smile and laugh. These are the most basic needs that FreeSchools fulfills, one village at a time…there are a million villages in India.