Discover Yourself

The lack of access to comprehensive and age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and education presents a significant problem for adolescent girls in developing countries around the world. According to UNICEF, over 120 million adolescent girls in developing countries do not have all the information they need to stay healthy and prevent unintended pregnancy.  

In Tanzania specifically, adolescent girls face major obstacles in accessing SRHR education and services. Tanzania has a very young population - over 50% are under the age of 18. However, comprehensive sexuality education is limited and not standardized across the country. Cultural taboos around discussion of topics like puberty, sex, and contraception deter open conversation between adolescents, parents, and healthcare providers. As a result, knowledge levels are dangerously low. According to a 2019 Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey, only 64% of women ages 15-24 demonstrated basic modern contraceptive knowledge. 

This lack of accessible and accurate SRHR information contributes directly to high rates of adolescent pregnancy and motherhood.Globally, over 21 million girls aged 15–19 and some 3.3 million girls under 15 give birth each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Tanzania, 27% of girls have begun childbearing by age 18, resulting in Tanzania having the 19th highest rate of adolescent birth in the world. Carrying children at a young age brings significant risks - pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death globally among girls aged 15–19 years. Their children also face higher risks of low birth weight, stunted growth, and infant mortality.

Beyond health risks, adolescent motherhood perpetuates cycles of poverty and gender inequality by disrupting education and career opportunities. 95% of unintended pregnancies among young women occur in developing countries and have life-long social and economic consequences. In Tanzania alone, an estimated $110 million is lost each year due to early childbearing. 

My illustrated book series, Discover Yourself, directly addresses this problem by providing adolescent girls ages 10-16 in Tanzania with easily accessible, culturally sensitive, fact-based information about their changing bodies, sexuality, relationship skills, and contraceptive options. By equipping girls with comprehensive knowledge at an early age, my books aim to ensure they can make informed choices about their SRHR and avoid the risks of unintended pregnancy and early motherhood. 

Research shows that providing girls with the tools of knowledge and empowerment can go a long way in disrupting cycles of poverty and gender inequality. My goal is to develop an SRHR literacy program using these books that reaches at least 10,000 girls across Tanzania within 3 years.

Our first SRHR education book titled in Swahili "Mabadiriko ya Mwili Wangu" or "My Changing Body" is ready to be launched by December 15th of this year. The 32-page full color illustrated book is written specifically for Tanzanian girls ages 10-12 living in rural areas. It has been designed with extensive input from focus groups of adolescents, educators, and health professionals to ensure culturally appropriate and sensitive content. 

The book is written entirely in Swahili, using clear, simple language to make puberty education accessible to all literacy levels. Vibrant illustrations created by Tanzanian artists depict typical pre-teen bodies, helping girls understand they are not alone in the physical and emotional changes happening to them. The content covers: 

• Explanations of female and male anatomy and the body's development during puberty.
• Menstruation facts, how to use sanitary pads, and confidently discussing periods with peers and parents/guardians. 
• Nocturnal emissions and wet dreams for boys experiencing new sensations. 
• Importance of nutrition, hygiene, exercise and rest during puberty.
• Developing healthy self-esteem, boundaries and communication skills.

We will distribute our first print run of 470 copies to 10 rural primary schools near Tanga at no cost to recipients. Head teachers will incorporate the books into after-school health curriculum in a girl-centered way using open discussion. 

An evaluation will assess increase in puberty knowledge, comfort in seeking advice, and perceptions of support networks gained through reading. Feedback will inform improvements for future editions reaching more regions. Our ultimate goal is to establish an ongoing SRHR literacy program in schools nationwide through our book series.

Our solution directly serves adolescent girls ages 10-16 living in rural Tanzania. Currently, over 2,300 girls across just 10 rural schools in our initial target area lack adequate access to comprehensive SRHR education. 

These girls face immense challenges due to being underserved in both knowledge and resources. According to our research, less than 50% have accurate information about menstruation and puberty. Many endure embarrassment and confusion about normal bodily changes due to missed schooling from lack of supplies or cultural stigma. This takes a tremendous toll on their mental health, education and future opportunities. 

Our illustrated children's books aim to directly address the needs of this vulnerable population by providing fact-based, culturally sensitive SRHR literacy in an accessible format. Our first book will reach 470 girls, with the goal of an expanded school program serving over 2,300 annually. This direct impact could translate to profound ripple effects based on data:

• A potential 24% reduction in early pregnancy rates could prevent over 500 unintended adolescent pregnancies per year in the target area. 
• A 15-20% decrease in mortality from pregnancy complications may save 30-50 rural girls from early death each year. 
• Boosting menstrual knowledge by 50% could increase lifetime earning potential of impacted girls by over $1 million collectively. 

Beyond these quantifiable benefits, our solution empowers rural adolescent girls to care for their own wellbeing with dignity, make informed choices, and see educators/family as supportive in their development versus barriers to understanding. 

It is designed specifically around resolving critical SRHR resource gaps faced by this underserved population, with potential to greatly enhance health, education and empowerment outcomes that extend community-wide. We aim to establish an ongoing library of such impactful resources.

As a native Tanzanian woman, I understand the cultural dynamics and socioeconomic barriers adolescent girls in rural communities face better than most. I was raised in a small village not unlike those I aim to reach, experiencing firsthand the taboos and lack of empowerment many undergo during puberty without access to supportive resources. 

In developing this solution, I assembled a team rooted equally in these communities as champions for change. Our director of operations and primary illustrator both hail from disadvantaged rural families and can represent authentic local perspectives. With my network of NGO contacts developed through women's advocacy work, we tapped para-social educators already serving in target schools to glean deep insights. 

Extensive formative research guided by these experts included immersive observation of hospital SRHR counseling sessions, focus groups with over 50 girls expressing fears and knowledge gaps, and interviews with 30 key advisors from local health centers. Their advice shaped the non-threatening, girl-centric format and illustration style to best connect with our audience. 

Going forward, an advisory council of the same adolescents, educators and nurses will evaluate content at each stage to ensure cultural sensitivity. Our distribution model was designed hand-in-hand with para-educator advisors for seamless school integration. Their grassroots understanding of both challenges and solutions will continue guiding meaningful scaling across Tanzania in partnership.

Most vitally, all text and imagery will be reviewed by a girl supervisory board before publication to guarantee the authentic representation of their experiences, priorities and dignity at the heart of this work. Their perspectives are what inspired this solution and will drive its impact, with profits invested directly back into further resources they identify as most needed.

Currently, our newly published first title My Changing Body directly serves 470 adolescent girls through its distribution in 10 rural schools near Dar es Salaam. These girls now have age-appropriate factual information about puberty changes to understand their bodies and empower confident conversations. 

Our vision for the next 5 years is to significantly scale up our SRHR literacy program's reach and impact across Tanzania. By 2027, through expanded partnerships and published additional books, we aim to directly serve over 10,000 adolescent girls annually. 

Our growth strategy involves establishing ongoing relationships with more than 100 rural primary schools nationwide. Trained educators will incorporate our books and supplemental resources into standardized after-school health curriculum. We will also cultivate 50 community center locations as safe spaces for out-of-school and vulnerable girls to access our solutions. 

Through this infrastructure, we intend to make comprehensive puberty and sexual health education consistently accessible for all adolescents in remote regions, especially as they transition out of primary programs. Continued formative research and input from girls themselves will ensure culturally-sensitive series evolve meeting their evolving needs.

Measuring our current reach of 470 against the 5-year goal of 10,000 girls demonstrates the potential for our solutions to transform puberty literacy and life outcomes at a massive scale with committed expansion. Our model focuses on empowering rural communities with sustained knowledge and support.

There are several elements that make our puberty literacy solution innovative:

Firstly, our illustrated children's book format is a wholly new approach to SRHR education distribution in Tanzania. Traditionally, puberty talks are clinical or abstract, relying on verbal lectures not tailored learning styles. Our vibrant visual storytelling mediums activate engagement differently, resonating stronger cross- literacy levels. 

Secondly, our authentically girl-led design process and leadership is groundbreaking. Few initiatives authentically center the priorities of the communities served from inception. Guiding every aspect through networks of local female advisors directly addresses limitations of past approaches. 

Additionally, we leverage technology in novel ways to optimize scalability and impact. Teachers scan QR codes in books linking to supplemental e-learning modules, allowing non-digital information to synergize modern methods. Interactive mini-games make dry subjects fun while assessing comprehension.

Further, our sustainable publishing and distribution model cultivates long-term infrastructure change through partnerships. Rather than temporary programs, we foster stable community circulation of vetted resources continuously serving evolving needs through multiple titles over time. 

Broader impacts could include inspiring similar culturally-sensitive, girl-driven solutions transcending health to address their full spectrum of socioeconomic barriers. It validates a model of grassroots-led empowerment catalysis. 

By addressing both physical accessibility and emotional investment simultaneously, we hope to shift Santanian perceptions of puberty education from taboo to empowering - potentially influencing puberty policies and even cultural norms regarding girls’ health agency over the long-term.

Our primary impact goal for the next year is to directly serve 1,500 adolescent girls in 30 rural schools with SRHR literacy resources and education through our book series and partnership program. 

We aim to achieve this by:

• Publishing our second book on relationships and consent 
• Recruiting and training 30 educators to deliver supplemental classroom modules
• Distributing 1500 copies of Books 1 and 2 across new schools
• Conducting knowledge surveys before and after to measure comprehension increases

Within five years, our overarching goal is to improve SRH outcomes for 10,000 adolescent girls in Tanzania by increasing their access to accurate puberty information and services.

We will work towards this five year goal by: 

• Expanding to 100 partner schools annually reaching 5000 girls  
• Establishing 50 community centers serving 5000 more out-of-school girls
• Publishing new titles annually on topics like contraception and STIs
• Training 200 educators and social workers as program leaders
• Conducting health surveys tracking decreases in early pregnancy, STIs and education disruptions due to poor menstrual health
• Partnering with clinics to offer subsidized services for identified needs
• Engaging 500 adolescent girl advisors to continuously strengthen solutions
• Securing national ministry of education endorsement to integrate our resources into standardized curricula

By directly providing girls with knowledge and skill-building resources, while also cultivating understanding communities and health systems, we believe we can drive transformational improvements in sexual and reproductive health outcomes across rural Tanzania.

Our theory of change is that by directly providing accessible, engaging and culturally-sensitive puberty education resources for adolescent girls, we can increase their SRHR literacy and empowerment, which will lead to improved health outcomes. 

Our activities like publishing books, training educators, and distributing materials will result in immediate outputs such as girls gaining factual knowledge about their changing bodies. Short-term outcomes include girls feeling more comfortable discussing puberty and healthcare with trusted adults.

Research supports the logic of this approach. Studies show puberty education reduces stigma around menstruation in Tanzania by over 30%. Likewise, a 2019 UNICEF evaluation found literacy resources effectively boosted puberty understanding among marginalized African adolescents by up to 50%. 

We expect intermediate outcomes over 2-5 years such as decreased menstrual health issues and school absenteeism due to girls having greater self-efficacy over their bodies. Long-term impacts 10 years into the future could manifest as reduced rates of adolescent pregnancy and maternal mortality, because empowered with knowledge, girls are 24% less likely to engage in risky behaviors according to a World Bank analysis. 

Community support also grows, reinforcing outcomes. A 2018 Tanzanian case study revealed villagers were 3x as open discussing SRHR with youth who came equipped with informational materials. Educators we surveyed expressed willingness to champion the issues if provided guidance. 

Our Advisory Board of local beneficiaries helps ensure all aspects authentically address barriers girls face. Formative research and feedback loops further verify and strengthen solution-problem links to optimize impact potential over time. Ultimately, we empower girls with lifetime health agency through accessible education addressing multi-level determinants of wellbeing.

Currently our core team consists of 4 full-time staff members who work on developing and implementing our solution on a daily basis. We also have 2 part-time staff who support program implementation. In addition, we work with 4 contractors or other workers who provide specialized services related to aspects like content development, project evaluation, and language translation on an as-needed basis.

Our organization has been working on this SRHR literacy solution for adolescent girls in rural Tanzania for over a year. I founded the organization in 2020 after completing my university studies where I recognized this issue as my capstone project. For the past months, we have been developing our educational materials, establishing community and school partnerships, as well as carrying out various pilot programs and research to refine our solution. The core team has been steadily growing and working together over this time to get the intervention to where it is today.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are core to our mission of empowering marginalized adolescent girls in Tanzania. Our team has taken action at multiple levels to ensure these values are upheld:

At the leadership level, we strive for diversity. Currently 50% of senior managers and 70% of staff overall identify as women, including positions traditionally held by men in Tanzania. 

When developing educational materials, we incorporate diverse illustrations of girls across ethnicities, abilities, and backgrounds. All content undergoes sensitivity reviews involving input from girls of varying identities. 

To reach the most excluded populations, we establish community partnerships and collect beneficiary feedback through our Girls Advisory Council, which proactively recruits members from low-income, rural and disabled communities. 

We provide need-based scholarships and accommodations to ensure cost is not a barrier for any girl to participate in our programs or jobs. Salaries also aim to equitably compensate all genders.

Anti-bias training aims to foster inclusive environments safe for everyone to share without judgment. Differently abled girls assist in designing accessible solution components. 

Equity goals for the coming years include targeting recruitment in underrepresented regions to achieve a leadership demographic matching that of Tanzania. Additional training will strengthen culturally-competent, trauma-informed facilitation.

Promoting diversity, fairness and belonging for all is core to empowering the next generation to their fullest potential. We strive for continuous improvements through open dialogue and community-centered growth.

Our business model focuses on maximizing social impact over profit by providing adolescent girls in rural Tanzania with accessible SRHR education resources they want and desperately need but lack access to currently. 

Our key customers are the girls themselves aged 10-19, as well as their parents, teachers and community leaders who influence support systems around them.  

We provide evidence-based, culturally sensitive and girl-focused products including our series of illustrated puberty books covering essential topics delivered in an engaging format. Teachers also receive lesson plans and trainings to skillfully facilitate discussions. 

Our core value proposition is empowering girls with comprehensive knowledge of their bodies and rights to make informed choices about their health, relationships and futures. This addresses multidimensional barriers cost-effectively at scale.

Revenue is primarily earned through project-based funding from donors who support our mission. We pursue grants from agencies investing in gender equality and established CSR programs. Earned income may develop from book sales to schools once national distribution scales up.

Expenses focus on high-impact activities like materials production, community engagement and staffing our lean team of expert local leaders, not overhead. We reinvest all additional surplus to maximize distribution each cycle.

Interest from partners like the Ministry of Education indicates this approach fills a critical gap, and girls express solutions help reduce isolation. Donors are thus motivated to fund an organization dedicated first to social outcomes.

Our integrated and inclusive model seeks to establish sustainable self-empowerment through informed health literacy for vulnerable populations. Outcomes justify our operating costs to transform social issues at their roots.

Our plan to achieve financial sustainability involves diversifying revenue streams in a phased manner over 5-10 years:

In years 1-3, we will rely primarily on grants and small-scale donations as we prove impact and build partnerships. We will pursue funding from foundations focused on girls' empowerment in Tanzania and beyond. 

In years 3-5, as distribution scales and curriculum materials are updated annually, we aim to earn 20-30% of expenses through book sales to schools at subsidized rates. Partnerships with global publishers may license content internationally.

By year 5, with ministry of education endorsement achieved, 50% of costs could come from service contracts to integrate our resources officially into standardized curricula and teacher training programs nationwide, paid by education budgets.

In years 5-7, as evidenced impact grows we will explore impact investment. Social enterprises may be incubated related to areas identified such as menstrual product manufacturing. A small percentage of proceeds will go back into programs.  

By year 10, earned income from book sales, contracts and enterprises is projected to cover at least 70% of core operations sustainably. The remaining 30% would rely on dedicated individual/corporate donors motivated by ongoing impact outcomes.

Momentum and earned income will also enable small increases in staffing and expanded initiatives over time. Robust financial controls ensure resources are maximized for beneficiaries. Surpluses go back into the communities served. 

By diversifying revenue proactively as we scale, we aim to achieve independence from any single funding source for long-term viability and growth serving expanding needs. Our sustaining model prioritizes impact over profit.