“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  This Chinese proverb essentially sums up what Bitiya wishes to accomplish for the female child visa-a-vie education.

Many of the world’s oppressed women reside in countries where governments lack either the will or the ability to raise living standards on their own. Financial assistance to such governments has often not helped their neediest citizens. In fact, in spite of the roughly $1 trillion that has been spent on grants and loans to fight poverty around the globe since the end of World War II, nearly half the world's six billion people still live on less than $2 a day; a fifth get by on less than $1. At times, foreign aid has even worsened the plight of the women, by sustaining the corrupt or otherwise inefficient governments that caused their misery in the first place. In such mismanaged countries, which number close to seventy, a correction must be presented.

We believe that partnerships between NGOs, private corporations and local governments are the key to achieving our mission. Local NGOs could be especially effective at reaching children below the poverty margins of society.

The most sustainable form of assisting those in poverty is to give them the ability to find their own way out—an end that can only be achieved via education.  Whether it is the knowledge of disease and preventing it from spreading; or the knowledge of history used to prevent the repetition of the same mistakes through time; the knowledge of technology being used to advance our existence; or knowledge of a skill that businesses are willing to pay a salary for, education serves as the common thread for bringing both individuals and nations out of poverty.

When a female child feels empowered, she understands she has the right to voice her opinions and her needs. She is better prepared to make appropriate life altering decisions, as well as exercise leadership in her family and community.  She can thus develop goals not just for her future well-being but that of her family’s. This can all be achieved via the empowering tool of education. Education functions not only as a means to finding a way out of poverty for these female children, but it also empowers generations to come by disabling the poverty cycle. 

At Bitiya we feel that the female child, given gender equality, is the key to accelerate the process of reform in poverty stricken nations.