|
I count
Each one of us makes a difference in our world. We count because we have been to school to learn to read and write and we fully realize the value of the gift we have been given. Just as importantly, we count because we can effect change by the many basic decisions we make every day: from what we buy, to what we do, our actions most certainly count. Our results from 2007 speak volumes on the impact that you have.
The fundraising campaign for our project in partnership with Free the Children in the Masai Mara in Kenya reached all its goals and more. A cheque for $100,000 was given to Free the Children in mid-December following the successful November conference with our guest speaker, Craig Kielburger. Construction on the project starts this month in Oloosiyioi. For more details and the implementation timetable, please click here The generosity of our donors and the ever expanding network of supporters of 60 million girls continue to amaze me. People clearly recognize the vital importance of giving all children a quality education if we ever hope to make our world a more just and equitable place to live. I see and hear on a continual basis how giving girls that extra help to complete primary and secondary schooling is the social investment with the greatest impact in a community. How different our world would be today if we had heeded that message just a generation ago! This year we have chosen two projects to support, always keeping in mind our goal to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized girls on the planet. In partnership with UNICEF Canada, we will be in northern Afghanistan supporting 1,300 young girls in community based schools, developing strong parent-teacher committees for girls' education and providing formal training to 80 women teachers. It is hard to think of a country that more desperately needs its women's participation in order to enable the country to grow peacefully.
We are equally thrilled to be working in partnership with WUSC on an extraordinary project targeting girls in the refugee camps of Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya . Families from war torn and violence filled areas such as the Sudan , Ethiopia , Somalia and Uganda realize the absolute importance of an education for their children. With the dire situation in the camps, few children can continue on from primary to secondary school, girls are desperately under-represented. Too many girls drop out before even completing elementary school. Our support will provide remedial classes along with community support programs for girls struggling to finish their primary education. With this help, they stand a much greater chance of continuing on to high school. And on that count, where cost is too often a concern, five girls will benefit from full high school scholarships from our donation.
It is only possible for us to envision supporting two projects for a total of $200,000 this year because of you. Your generosity has enabled us to keep doing more. This year's two projects along with our projects in Burkina Faso, Zambia and Kenya will have directly touched over 2,500 children, enabling them to go to school where it was not possible before - and for more children to follow in their footsteps afterwards. Our all volunteer group continues to work hard to ensure that over 99% of every dollar donated to the foundation goes to the projects we support. You will read in this newsletter how we go about choosing those exceptional projects to fund. You will also read how students have been involved in raising money for the foundation. I count …! Our combined determination to act will give more children access to that most important of basic rights – the right to an education. Their realized potential is what will change their world. " I count '' is therefore the theme we have chosen for our awareness campaign over the next two years. Selecting new projects : a difficult task
You may wonder how 60 Million Girls selects the educational projects it sponsors for girls in developing countries. Are we led by our heads or by our hearts? Actually, both are involved. In fact it is the result of a very demanding process based on a number of criteria that reflect the mission and values of the Foundation. In September of each year, the committee responsible for evaluating the submissions issues a request for proposal to a selection of Canadian charitable organizations supporting educational initiatives in developing countries. Each organization submits its proposal using a standard template and responds to very specific questions on the issues and challenges faced by the young girls selected for the project, the goals and expected results, the indicators that will be used to measure success, the project's duration and completion schedule and associated costs. The organization must also submit detailed financial statements, samples of project tracking and status reports, and any other documents pertinent to the submission. The committee then performs a detailed analysis of each submission and rates them against a weighted grid of pre-determined criteria. Consideration is given to the vulnerability of the young girls affected by the project as well as community involvement and other factors. Once the evaluation phase is completed, a short-list of projects is presented to the Foundation's Executive Committee for final selection. The selected project is then announced to the friends and supporters of the foundation in order to plan for the fundraising campaign. Whether a satellite school in Burkina Faso (2005), the Umoyo Training Center in Zambia (2006), access to education for the Maasai community (2007), or community schools in Afghanistan (2008) and education programs in Kenyan refugee camps (2008), the Foundation has chosen its initiatives with integrity and fairness in order to ensure they will truly benefit the future development of young girls. 
A smashing afternoon tea!
Who can resist a good cup of tea and a few delicious sweets? Certainly not students from l'École internationale de Montréal! Thanks to the support of history teacher Annie Girard, the high school students were able to fully satisfy their sweet tooth. It was a simple idea: a few students volunteered to bake some great desserts, a schoolroom was transformed into a tea room, and all were invited to sample pastries, cookies, Nanaimo bars and brownies. A simple and very successful idea! Within only three days, everything was gone and an amount of $500 was collected, a sum that will be entirely donated to the 60 Million Girls foundation. An homage to feminist nuns
One of the first tasks I gave myself, two years ago, was to reach out to a few congregations to make them aware of the mission of 60 Million Girls. As soon as I met with my first contact - Madeleine Bélec of Les Soeurs de Saint-Joseph de Saint-Vallier from Québec who was, in my teenage years, a mentor and who remains a source of inspiration to me today – I found myself with a list of women of action within a network of feminist nuns. I couldn't believe it! From one to the other, I came to see how these women and their congregations were over-solicited by different groups, different causes and yet they remained, still and always, available to take the time to analyze the project, to listen and to conduct appropriate research on their own. The support we have received since then has not diminished. Each year, five or six congregations have provided their support, within their financial capacity at the time. Their contributions vary but never their enthusiasm rallying to our projects. I think what touches me most, is to hear them all repeat how much they are impressed with the work we do and the quality of the projects that 60 Million Girls has proposed to them. They are proud that we target girls' education, their autonomy and their becoming engaged citizens to change the world. They believe in it profoundly and are well placed to do so having given women in Quebec a strong helping hand in their empowerment by supporting girls' education, women victims of violence, the most socially marginalized, the poor and the sick, so often forgotten. Their contribution has never been completely credited at its full value. I wanted to underscore their greatly deserved merit. |
 |
|
 |
