She is Heard: Stories of Courage from The Girls Foundation of Tanzania
In partnership with Conservation Nation and The Girls Foundation of Tanzania, we helped lead a series of storytelling workshops for young women attending an extraordinary school in Arusha, Tanzania. The Girls Foundation of Tanzania is dedicated to expanding access to education for girls from underserved and often marginalized communities, while Conservation Nation works globally to empower local leaders and communities to protect wildlife and wild places through education, storytelling, and capacity building.
The students who participated in these workshops come from diverse backgrounds and have overcome significant challenges in pursuit of an education. Through scholarship and sponsorship programs, gifted young women are selected to attend the school, where they are supported in developing the skills and confidence needed to become future leaders within their communities.
The goal of the storytelling workshops was to help students learn how to creatively and authentically tell their own stories through writing. By capturing their challenges, resilience, and triumphs on the page, the students created powerful narratives intended to inspire other young women across Tanzania. For many participants, this was the first time they had ever written their personal story—let alone seen it published in a book—marking an important milestone in their educational and professional journeys.
Running Wild Media was proud to support this collaboration by facilitating the workshops, editing and shaping the stories, and overseeing the design and production of the final publication. Several hundred copies of the book were printed and distributed to surrounding villages, where they now serve as a source of inspiration for young girls considering their own paths forward. The project also supports broader conservation goals, helping strengthen coexistence efforts in communities living alongside wildlife such as rhinos and elephants, where education and storytelling play a vital role in long-term conservation success.
Photos by Emily Tunuka
