Our Vision:
The Yaya Girls Running Program seeks to create a new class of Ethiopian female role models that will promote gender equality throughout Ethiopia. The ultimate goal is to help adolescent girls
facing serious life challenges to become self-sufficient. A new generation of young Yaya female leaders, enabled and encouraged to fight for gender equality, will help redefine the deep-seated societal norms that unfairly burden girls and women throughout
Ethiopia. The time is ripe to target impoverished teenage girls with programs that expand their life choices.
Program Description:
The Yaya Village Hotel is the primary sponsor of the Yaya Girls Program, which will sponsor 24-36 girls in its first year at full capacity. Additional sponsors include the Girls Gotta Run Foundation,
RunningRoom, ReThink WIsconsin and private donors. The program will host six girls in the next four-month running season with the option to sponsor 6-10 girls in the following trimester. Sponsoring one girl for one trimester will cost roughly $700 USD. Joseph
Kibur, majority owner of the Yaya Village Hotel, will provide the girls with housing on campus and access to all the facilities, free of charge.
For a visual and more media centric description on the program check out our facebook page at
www.facebook.com/yayagirlsrunning.
The pilot-phase launched in August 2012 with a 6km run to identify the incipient class of Yaya Girls. Fifty girls competed in the event. Following the competition the program selected
two girls to sponsor and join this first phase. The pilot-phase has been an incredible learning experience for the program as it prepares to operate at full capacity this coming January. One can read more about the lessons learned from the pilot so far on
the Yaya Girl's blog, article
linked here.
The next 6k race, on February 3rd, will identify six girls to be admitted to the program.
During their four-month stay, each girl will receive individualized job training and a three-month job placement, leaving them well equipped to pursue gainful employment after graduating
from Yaya. Upon completion of the program, all girls will receive a certificate of graduation listing their specific areas of job training, along with continued support in the form of mentorship, employment advice and assistance in networking for future jobs.
As gender roles are slowly beginning to change in Ethiopian society, the time is ripe to target impoverished teenage girls with programs, such as running, that expand their life
choices so that they can break free of the traditional confines society places upon them. Confronting the issues of gender inequality in Ethiopia by targeting adolescent girls and giving them support will expand these girls’ freedoms and will help
break the intergenerational poverty that is passed down from disadvantaged young mothers to their children. Initiatives that value gender equality and women’s empowerment will more fully utilize human resources, helping create a sustainable future for the
country. Support for adolescent girls must become a focal part of Ethiopia's development future.
How we will achieve our vision:
The Yaya Village program seeks to create a new class of successful female role models in two ways:
First, the program will help athletically gifted girls to discover their athletic potential, tapping into the world-class training facilities and Olympic level, individualized coaching that
the Yaya Village has to offer. The program only expects a small percentage of Yaya Girls to become professional runners at an international level; nevertheless, any girl who shows the athletic capacity to compete on the world stage will be kept in the program
so that she can achieve her full running potential. Success on the world stage for any Yaya graduate will also give the program international prominence and attention.
Second, over the course of each four-month season girls will immediately be placed in daily job-training programs, helping them learn valuable life lessons, while also providing the
necessary tools to find work in a competitive global marketplace. The majority of Yaya Girls will not make it as professional athletes; however, the skills they learn at the Yaya Village, coupled with the program’s job placement initiative, will help graduating
girls find gainful employment so they become self-sufficient.
We believe that the unquantifiable impact, heralded by a new class of confident, self-sufficient, and successful female role models will be felt throughout Ethiopia.
YaYa Girls Learning English:
Support us and bring more girls into the program!
