JOINING TOGETHER TO BUILD LEADERSHIP AMONG GIRLS

Pearls for Girls’ objective is to help girls grow as citizens of the world through their experiences in leadership, collaboration, and contribution.

The dream of Pearls for Girls www.pearls4girls.org is for all girls to be able to create and sustain healthy futures for themselves and their communities. Currently this dream is out of reach for many girls, especially those living in Africa and orphaned by HIV/AIDS. To change this reality, teenagers around the world are coming together through “Pearl Bees” to learn about being a leader, collaborating with others, and making a meaningful contribution that will provide education and leadership development for girls in developing countries.

The first focus of Pearls for Girls is to support girls orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, South Africa.  Working with Help Lesotho www.helplesotho.ca , Pearls for Girls will raise funds through the sale of signature pearl bracelets to:

• Sponsor a yearly girls’ leadership development week; and
• Support girls’ ongoing leadership and educational needs.

Lesotho is a small country, entirely surrounded by South Africa, with a population of approximately two million people and the 3rd highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world. UNICEF projects that the number of AIDS orphans will more than double in the next 4 years and Lesotho is expected to have the highest increase of any country!  Approximately 1/3 of the children in Lesotho are orphaned and many more are vulnerable. It is the mission of Help Lesotho to mitigate against the effects of HIV/AIDS by promoting education and youth leadership development.

Help Lesotho’s objectives are to:

• Raise public awareness of the crisis situation in Lesotho;
• Twin schools and build one-to-one relationships between Canadians and the people of Lesotho;
• Develop simple, low-cost, accountable, locally based and championed projects in Lesotho;
• Promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among youth in Lesotho;
• Foster hope and motivation in the children;
• Support Lesotho's teachers and schools with programs, resources, and volunteers;
• Develop leadership and a sense of civic responsibility among Lesotho youth.

To order the signature “Pearls for Girls” Bracelet contact: pearl@pearls4girls.org or ordering@helplesotho.ca.
All profits received go directly to Help Lesotho