The lovely Graça Sitoe was the first female graduate of ALG’s Uni Scholarship programme.
In 2015, she graduated in Administration & Management and sent us news on her happier life this week. Graça was a teacher at the São Vicente Paulo School in Chokwe and in 2012 asked A Little Getsure to support her studies at the University of Chokwe.
She dreamed of graduating since she was young but was held back by the efforts of supporting a large household on her own. Now she is working in the public secondary school of Manjangue where she holds the important role of Head of School Office. Our team went to visit her in the new office where we were warmly greeted by her colleagues Arlindo Cossa and Emilio Langa and school headmistress Ana Jesus.
Graça misses her child students and the joy of the classroom but her life is so much better. She is busy every day with her new responsibilities in school accountancy and payroll control. But best of all, is her salary increase: from 6.000 meticais to 24.000 (c.£312) which let her offer a much better quality of life to her 4 children.
Women disproportionately lack access to higher education in Mozambique with rates of only 3.73% in 2011, and lags behind other Sub-Saharan African countries in enrolment in STEM disciplines such as sciences, technology, engineering and maths – in World Bank 2015 .
Graça is the living proof of how a Little Gesture accelerates positive change and a huge source of pride for ALG!