.. in the Queen Birthday Honours -15 June 2013

London mother who set up a charity to build schools in villages awarded MBE Marie Tejani, the founder of Yaarah Schools charity was over the weekend awarded an MBE for her services to education and charity through her work with Yaarah Schools.

The charity which focuses on providing suitable infrastructure for children in villages was started 3 and half years ago and has gone from strength to strength. Maire and the Yaarah Schools team work in collaboration with the villages that they are helping, allowing the community to be a part of the change that they are making for themselves. It all started with a desire to make a difference to the life of children in villages that were missing out on the chance of an education because they had no buildings to learn in. Now Yaarah Schools has completed the building of their first school in the Volta region of Ghana and started work on their second project in the North of Ghana. With the support of friends and family and through a number of fundraising events in the UK Maire has been able to spearhead and advocate for the change in mindset needed to ensure that children all over the world can get access to basic education. Always one to lead by example Maire recently completed BSc in Community Development and Public Policy whilst working full time at the Department of Education and running Yaarah Schools.

Quote from Maire Tejani MBE: “I love to see their development grow through any form of education. I believe education is a life time gift which not one can take away from you. Also to give girls and women the education and the potential they deserve to flourish. I have always believed I could do a bit more to make a change to people’s lives through the power of education. I am doing my part of the contribution to people.”