As we begin the New Year, MGEF invites you to read all the highlights and accomplishments from 2012. We owe our success to you, our supporters. Thank you and may you have a wonderful year in 2013!
We received an early holiday card today all the way from Costa Rica! MGEF student Abigael Simaloi Pertet is standing to the far left along with the other newly admitted African students at EARTH University. She is currently taking intensive Spanish classes, and will begin her 4-year Bachelor’s degree program in Agricultural Science this January. We can’t wait to see how far Abigael’s education takes her!
We are pleased to announce that MGEF student, Flora Nanetia Ogeli, recently completed her coursework towards a diploma in Business Administration from the Masai Technical Training Institute.
Just days after the American holiday, Thanksgiving, we received a beautiful letter of appreciation from Flora Nanetia Ogeli that we would like to share with you here:
Did you know that rural Maasai girls miss up to 1/4 of the school year due to their menstrual periods? Without the funds or access to sanitary pads, girls stay home every month and fall behind in their classes. Our Alumni Group is addressing this education barrier by distributing sanitary pads to the most vulnerable Maasai girls. On November 19th, for example, the MGEF Alumni Group delivered sanitary pads to students at Iseuri Primary School in Kajiado, Kenya (see photo). This is the fourth school in Kenya to receive sanitary pads and mentoring from the MGEF Alumni Group.
On November 16th, 2012, MGEF Founder and President Barbara Lee Shaw spoke at the SAIS Global Women in Leadership lecture series to discuss nonprofit leadership and community development with SAIS students and faculty in Washington, DC. As described by Angie Taylor, of SAIS Global Women in Leadership, “This series aims to provide an intimate and open forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing women around the world. Organized around substantive themes, this bi-monthly event invites experienced speakers from all sectors of society to share their insights on how women are making a difference in advancing our common goals of peace, social justice, and human security.”
We applaud SAIS Global Women for hosting this informative lecture series, and thank them for welcoming Barbara Lee Shaw and MGEF.
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a part of Johns Hokins University.
MGEF students are going places. From a rural Kenyan village to Central America, our very own Abigael Simaloi Pertet is proving how far education and hard work can take her.
How far? All the way to EARTH University in Costa Rica on a full, four-year scholarship to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Science.
From September thru December 2012, Abigael will attend intensive Spanish classes in her new home, and in January 2013, she will begin her Agricultural Science program. We are proud of her accomplishments and excited that she is getting this opportunity.
Since her MGEF scholarship began in 2004, Abigael has been at the top of her class, fully aware of the importance of education, and grateful for the opportunity, as expressed in an excerpt from one of her poems presented at MGEF’s student reception several years ago.
We celebrate the privilege of acquiring knowledge
To all our supporters we pledge allegiance
Never will we diverge from this privilege
We choose to cling to this advantage.
Abigael will conclude her studies in 2016, and will return home with a wealth of knowledge to help her country and her community.
We’re partnering with the online and international volunteering organization, Skills For Girls, to connect our college students with English tutors from around the world. How is this possible? Skills For Girls founder, Elaine Marshall (UK), realized that the growing availability of internet and computers, even in the most remote locations, was an untapped resource for education. When using Skype to tutor, the distance barrier between teacher and student is irrelevant. We are thrilled to already have several MGEF students in the program, all strengthening and polishing their English-speaking skills. To learn more about Skills for Girls please visit their website: http://skillsforgirls.org/
Interested in online volunteering? Please email Elaine Marshall at [email protected] for more information.
The Cameras4Change Workshop, a collaboration between MGEF Kajiado and the Canada-based nonprofit Cameras4Change, kicks off on November 26th in Kajiado, Kenya. Learn all about the 5-day curriculum, previous Cameras4Change projects, and much more on their website.
Our Alumni Group is a coalition of MGEF alumni and current college students who are dedicated to empowering other Maasai women and girls. Their first project focuses on mentoring rural primary school girls and providing them with sanitary pads. These girls regularly miss school because they have no access to sanitary pads. This small but significant resource enables Maasai girls to attend school without interrupt.
On November 10, 2012 the Alumni Group went to their first three primary schools to serve as role models, offer support, and distribute a supply of sanitary pads to each girl (see photo).
We would like to give a very special thanks to project funders, Ruth and Bev of Australia.
Click here to see pictures from the Alumni Group mentoring and sanitary pads project.
Today we are featuring a very special MGEF student sponsor. Mary Grace is a 15-year-old girl who has turned her talent and business savvy into a creative mechanism for funding girls’ education in Uganda, Kenya, Paraguay, and Haiti. Her business, Reverse the Course, sells handmade headbands and hair ribbons to accomplish one mission: to directly impact lives by assisting girls in under-developed communities attend school.
Initially, Mary Grace had a humble goal. She wanted to raise enough money to educate one girl. When Reverse the Course grew, she set her sights even higher. Mary Grace now strives to send 100 girls to school. MGEF students Peninah Nasae Neiliang, Irene Liteita Mamayio, Yiamoi Beatrice Kasairo, Sharon Meeli, and Winnie Lemayian are just five of many lives she is changing.
Find out all about Mary Grace, her journey to entrepreneurship, and where she developed her passion. Also, make sure you browse the Reverse the Course headband collection. Every single piece helps a girl go to school!