Education Fund!

Good news!  After working out the details of everything, the first round of scholarship money has successfully gone through and 3 girls are already in school! We are now ready to implement the program on a larger scale.

For most of you, you know of the education fund that I'm talking about because you followed my blog while I was in Uganda or we have talked since then and you asked for more info.  OR perhaps you have no idea what I'm talking about and I accidentally added you to the list (I won't be offended if you let me know that you aren't interested so I know not to bother you with further emails).


So here's the deal: Food for the Hungry (a Christian development organization - www.fh.org) and I are trying to provide the women that I worked with in the village of Kitgum in Northern Uganda in Fall, 2009 (all victims of gender based violence, abduction or trauma) with the fees that they need to finish their education.

In many cases the women were abducted by a rebel group during their school years or were forced to stop schooling in order to work in the fields for their family or marry and have children.  Now they are between the ages of 17 and 21 and have such a willing desire to get an education but they have no money to pay for fees because they are struggling day to day to even feed their kids.

Most of the girls are interested in vocational training with the aim of studying tailoring, sewing, etc.  Others want to attend secondary school (roughly the equivalent of high school) and a few are still young enough to return to primary school.

But we need your help!  Above all I would appreciate all the prayers than I can get about this.  But we also can't do this without financial support.  As you probably know, I hate asking for money... But, here I am asking, if you can, to please think about helping us make a huge difference in the lives of these Ugandan women.

I will be going back to Northern Uganda for two and a half months this summer to continue implementing this project and to record the stories of the girls that you will be helping.  And thanks to God's grace, I will be receiving a grant from my college to pay for all of my traveling fees which is certainly a blessing for a college student.


Here are some more details:

Where would your money go?

• Not to us!  No administration fees will be taken out by Food for the Hungry -- each and every cent will get to the women.
• School fees
  
• A uniform
  
• A food stipend for the girls and their children (depending on their personal access to food)
  
• School materials (books, paper, pencils, etc.)
• Necessities (bedsheets, jerrycans, hoes, etc.)

What would a one year scholarship look like?

• A one year scholarship, that would include all of the above, would be about $150-$400 depending on what level of schooling and what school the woman will be going to.
  
• You, the scholarship provider, would receive stories and pictures of the women that you are assisting and would have the opportunity to send letters and items to them.

Is this sustainable?

• The last thing that we want is for the women to become reliant on foreign aid.  That is why we are not just giving them food or just money for food but are primarily providing a scholarship for them to get the education they need so that they can support themselves and their family without relying on charity.

How to help:

• First and foremost, please pray for the girls because ultimately this is all about them.
• If helping financially is something that you can do:
  
  
  • Mail your check to 

               Food for the Hungry 
               Attention of Teresa Craig

               1224 E. Washington St.
                Phoenix, AZ 85034-1102

• 
  
• Put "Go ED alumni scholarship fund - Uganda" on the memo line.
• You may also get the check (payable to Food for the Hungry, as above) to me or my parents and we will mail it on to Food for the Hungry.
  
• **Note: this is a tax deductible donation and you will receive a confirmation of receipt.

• I know we all love doing these things online but snail mail has proved to be the best way since this particular donation will have no administration fees taken out.
• Please let me know if you do choose to send something, so that I can confirm it with Teresa Craig and ensure that the funds flow properly.
• Again, I'm not suggesting an amount - the donation could be for anything from helping buy a school uniform to as much as sponsoring one or more girls for the year.  It's also up to you whether you donate every month or once.  This all depends on you and your preferences/capabilities.

Check out my blog posts from October to read more about the project and my experience there.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.  I would love to discuss this project further with you.