Transforming Lives With Scholarship Programs
Scholarship Program Impacts The Entire Community!
Every year, GTLTG provides a full scholarship towards a teaching degree to qualified young women to Barwaaqo University, the first all-female boarding university in the Northern region.
Due to the generous donation of Jama Ibrahim, who is a co-founding member of Ibrahim & Rao LLP, highly qualified, intelligent young women can continue higher education at Barwaaqo university which is a leading teaching institution with excellent international faculty dedicated to teaching the next generation of educational leaders. Each student receives a full scholarship for the four-year term and, upon completion, will be given full-time employment at one of our established schools.
Mr. Ibrahim speaks Arabic and Somali and is currently learning Spanish with the background of someone who has lived in several countries and travelled around the world. He believes wholeheartedly in the education and empowerment of women to become professionals and, in turn, help drive the development of their own community.
In providing this essential aid, i.e. the fees for a full scholarship will inherently have a full circle effect. Education can turn these driven young women into leaders in the classroom, who will then educate the next generation of Somali youth across the country.
Ibrahim & Rao
The challenge
After decades of war in the region, generations of girls in the areas have grown with little or no education or chances of economic opportunity. According to UNICEF, literacy rates in the region are 25% for females and 49% for males. This means 75% of the population, the majority being women, lack the primary education needed for life. To make real change, to help themselves, their families and their country’s developing economy, one must be given a helping hand and have access to quality educational opportunities
Jama Ibrahim & Rao LLP, thank you for being an active participant in global change. By providing full scholarship fees for these Four young women, you enable them to become economically productive, independent and empowered while also advocating for advancement in their community.
Q: Why are you providing the funding full scholarship fees for these young women?
I feel that I have a duty to help our younger generation succeed by having access to quality education. As a child, I was lucky to have been given the opportunity to be educated, becoming the second person in my entire extended Somali family (reer) to obtain a university degree. This opportunity was afforded to me initially by my aunt and later by my uncle, who took me in as a member of his own family. As a result, I feel that those of us who have had some success in life to give back to our community back home. I am also lucky to have a great friend and business partner in Rathi Rao (an Indian American) who shares my passion for helping those less advantaged and supported my recommendation to send these young women to college. We’re both hoping that, once they graduate, these young women will give back to the community they came from.
Q: What does educating girls mean to you?
Educating our girls and women means a lot to me. I believe that education and economic independence provide women with the ability to be independent and lead meaningful lives. I have seen many young women who feel that they are unable to leave abusive husbands or relatives because they lack the education and skills to take care of themselves and their children. Education that provides career skills and work/business opportunities will give women financial freedom and control over their destiny. I also believe that educated women are more likely to give back to their community than men, especially in our region.