Impact Story - Part II

When We Invest in Girls, We Invest in Entire Communities

Our numbers show how impactful our projects have been, but our impact goes beyond numbers. This school year, we are directly investing in 235 girls in Soddo and Bekoji, Ethiopia. But our reach expands beyond the Athletic Scholars to the whole community -- we estimate that more than 1,400 people are touched by our work. We are proud to share some of their stories with you. 

In Soddo, GGRF provides bananas after running practice two days per week. One of our Athletic Scholars, Nigat, shares her banana with her younger brother. He counts on this snack, and regularly waits at the gate for his sister to come home. Nigat's parents explained that the entire family is able to benefit from our investment in Nigat -- the support we provide means that the family's resources are increased. It also makes Nigat a role model for her brother.  

“If we are going to see real development in the world, then our best investment is WOMEN”   --- Bishop Desmond Tutu 

In Bekoji, GGRF provides biweekly grants to the mothers of our 20 first-year Athletic Scholars to buy ingredients, prepare, and serve lunch to the girls at school and after Saturday running practice. These mothers get an increase in spending power, which boosts their status in the local community, and also gain experience in working together cooperatively. This is part of our larger program to invest in mothers -- look for more about this in our next newsletter.

These are small illustrations of what we mean when we say we "invest in girls who empower themselves and their communities through running and education." Thank you for being part of this mission.