Pacific Ridge Students Learn to Understand Global Issues
Local students from Pacific Ridge School and Canyon Crest Academy partner with the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, a school that provides tuition-free education to 130 girls annually in Kibera, Kenya, through a nonprofit program called the Global Journal Project. Together, the students produce Global Vantage, an award-winning, internationally minded, student-run magazine.
The collaboration has allowed students at all three schools to understand global issues and forge international relationships. Kibera Girls Soccer Academy Program Director Richard Teka and alumna Asha Jaffar recently visited and spoke to Pacific Ridge students, faculty, and guests about the importance of education and its role in ending the cycle of poverty. Teka shared that uneducated women in Kibera can either work as house cleaners for the equivalent of $40 a month or get married off at a young age to earn their families a dowry. Kibera Girls Soccer Academy began as a girls soccer team as a means to combat gender inequalities and boost the girls’ confidence and self-esteem. However, promising young athletes would leave the team because they would marry or become pregnant. The best way to stop girls from leaving and to further empower them was to provide them with a free education. And so, the school was established in 2006.
“The partnership has been really beneficial for all of us. It’s been eye-opening to see the experiences that other people are going through, just to get an education, and the effort it takes for equality,” said Pacific Ridge student and Global Vantage Chief Financial Officer Megan Martindale. At Pacific Ridge, the Global Vantage group is one of over 40 student-led service learning groups addressing needs around the world. To learn more visit www.globalvantagemagazine.com or www.pacificridge.org.