For more than 100 girls in Baringo, Kenya, accessing education means facing challenges no child should have to experience.

Each day, girls walk for hours through unsafe terrain simply to reach their classrooms. For some, this means travelling up to 20 kilometres a day, facing risks of gender-based violence and other dangers along the way.

But together, we have an opportunity to change that.

At So They Can, we believe every girl deserves the opportunity to access safe, quality education, without fear of what she might face on her journey to school.

United in this belief, our So They Can New Zealand Board has launched a campaign to raise NZ$157,000 to build a safe dormitory for 100 girls at one of our partner schools in Baringo, Kenya.

For girls living in rural communities in Baringo, getting an education isn't always as simple as arriving at school each morning.
Long distances, unsafe journeys and limited access to suitable accommodation can make attending school a daily challenge. For some girls, these barriers can lead to dropping out of school altogether, increasing their vulnerability to harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital cutting and forced labour.

A safe dormitory can change this.

By providing accommodation within the school grounds, we can give girls a secure place to sleep, access to essential facilities and, most importantly, the opportunity to focus on their education.

Instead of spending hours walking to and from school, girls will have more time to study, rest, build friendships and simply enjoy being children.

Our goal is to raise NZ$157,000 to fund the construction and fit-out of the dormitory, including 100 beds, bathrooms, toilets and laundry facilities.

A donation of NZ$1,570 could fund one bed, giving a girl a safe place to sleep and the opportunity to continue her education.
We've seen firsthand just how much this means to the girls we support. In some of our dormitories, girls have even chosen to share their beds with friends so that another girl can have the same opportunity to stay at school.

We are incredibly grateful to have the support of Dame Silvia Cartwright, former Governor-General of New Zealand and New Zealand's first female High Court judge, who is standing alongside us in support of this campaign.

Dame Silvia has joined So They Can in advocating for girls' access to safe, quality education, recognising the importance of removing the barriers that prevent girls from reaching their full potential.

Her support reinforces a simple but powerful message: every girl deserves the opportunity to learn, feel safe and determine her own future.

New Zealand has a proud history of standing up for women's rights. In 1893, we became the first self-governing country in the world to give women the right to vote, marking an important milestone in the fight for equality and opportunity.

Today, we have another opportunity to stand together for girls' rights, this time by helping girls in Baringo access something every child deserves: a safe place to stay and the chance to complete their education.

One dormitory. 100 beds. More than 100 opportunities for a brighter future.

We have an opportunity to make a lasting difference for girls in Baringo, and we'd love for you to be part of it. Whether you choose to fund a bed, make a donation or share this campaign with your community, every contribution brings us one step closer to giving these girls a safe place to stay, learn and thrive.

Together, we can help remove the barriers standing between girls and their education.