Timor-Leste Vulnerable Girls Empowerment

Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is one of the youngest countries in the world. A country of singular beauty, with its exuberant beaches and unique beauty. His people, known for the sympathy and warm cordiality with which he receives foreigners, is also of admirable strength and resilience.

In this small island of Southeast Asia, which has been reborn from the ashes and with much sacrifice has written its history, there is still much to be done, great challenges to be faced.

One of them is the drama of 52% of adolescent girls who are forced to stop studying before age 16, because they need to help in the domestic economy or marry. Most of these girls face an early pregnancy and before they turn 20, they are already mother of 3 other children.

The lack of access to education makes it impossible for these adolescents to enter the labor market because they have no professional qualifications or because they are not aware of their own potentialities. This leaves them vulnerable and living in a cycle of poverty and violence that never ends.

Globally, 600 million adolescent girls struggle with widespread poverty, limited access to education and health services, and persistent discrimination and violence. Adolescent girls are among the most economically vulnerable groups, significantly more so than adult women or adolescent boys.

In this context, the Pro-EMA Program was created (Pro-Ema means an empowerment program for adolescent girls).
Through our program, adolescent girls living in extreme socioeconomic vulnerability will have access to technical vocational courses, life skills training and mentoring so that they can develop self-esteem, self-confidence and make informed decisions about their future. Being agents of change in their family and communities!
We believe that programs of empowerment through education, adolescent girls can break the cycle of violence and thus rewrite their stories. We the Pro-Ema family in Timor-Leste believe that we can change a country through the education of its girls. But, we can not do this alone!

So we want to invite you to help change the lives of many girls in Timor-Leste! With $ 5, $ 10 or $ 100 you can make a difference not only in a girl's life but also in her family and community!

Donate! Join us! Be a Pro-Ema Partner!

*All funds donated for this campaign will be used to equip the classrooms, professional kitchen and dormitory building for the beneficiaries who will be housed in Pro-Ema during the time of study.

Here's what one of our volunteers thinks about the privilege of being a Pro-Ema partner:

"Super excited to be involved in the amazing work Pro-Ema are doing in Timor-Leste 💜 Pro-Ema are focused on providing economic empowerment to adolescent girls and young women who are the survivors of abuse (and as such, typically discarded by society). Pro-Ema is looking to change this through a supported yet formal education that will increase their ability to participate in the workforce, help them gain economic independence, promote their confidence, strengthen their social network and improve their health outcomes. The dream is just coming alive now and in this photo I'm being shown around their newly acquired building for their new campus by the amazing architect Graziella (a fellow volunteer) who will be turning this building into a world class teaching establishment and restaurant for the students to run #proema #timorleste #dili #ngo #inspring #volunteer #education #empowerment #women #girlpower #rennovations #newlook #newopportunities #independence #breakthecycle