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And our speaker is...
Every year we have been privileged to have thought provoking, insightful, courageous and passionate speakers at our fall conference. Stephen Lewis, Craig Kielburger, Dr. Sima Samar. These men and women embody the difference that each person can make to ensure that all girls around the world have the opportunity that is their right to a quality basic education. This year, on Tuesday November 17th, we bring you yet another amazing speaker who has taken a courageous stand for young girls in Zimbabwe: Ms. Betty Makoni.
Ms. Makoni is a gender activist, Founder and Director of Girl Child Network (GCN), an organization that champions the rights of the girl child in Zimbabwe. From 1999 to date, Betty Makoni has mobilized financial resources to build four Girls Empowerment Villages, a unique model that provides safe shelter, healing, and a future to sexually abused girls. She is renowned for her great innovation in designing proactive and preventative girl child empowerment programs which today directly benefit over 60 000 girls in the whole country. From just one girls’ club at Zengeza 1 High School, GCN now has 700 girls’ clubs in 40 of the country’s 58 districts where daily girls are being empowered through various programs. Betty Makoni is also the former Chairperson of the Women`s Coalition of Zimbabwe, a network of organizations that advocate for the rights of women and girls. She has assisted thousands of women suffering from domestic violence to reclaim their rights. Realizing the great contribution Betty Makoni has made in Zimbabwe to the development of future women, she has received several national and global awards. Please join us on November 17th to support our two projects for 2009: The Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe and education for Lenca girls in Honduras. Click here to purchase your tickets.Click here to learn more about our projects this year. Thank you, as always, for your interest and wonderful support of 60 million girls. Where in the world is 60 million girls? Each year 60 million girls goes through the extremely difficult task of choosing the projects we will support from a long list of submittals. However, while we are constantly on the lookout for new, innovative and effective projects to support, we also keep close tabs on the projects we have financed in the past. Visit our website for the latest updates and reports from our 2007 project in Oloosiyioi with Free the Children and our 2008 project with WUSC. Pub night and school: the right mix? Absolutely! On May 26th, 2G2 – the 2nd generation of 60 million girls established by a group of young activists last fall – put action to words and raised money for our projects in Zimbabwe and Honduras this year. McKibbins Pub (Bishop Street) donated the use of their second floor along with DJ, dance floor, music and a free drink for each guest while 2G2 collected the $5 per person entry fee. With over 250 people in attendance, the evening was a great success. Along with additional donations and a dating game fundraiser, close to $2,000 was collected. Check out the new 2G2 website to see what other things young people are doing to change their world! You voted us number 1!! As one of four finalists in the international charity category of Divine.ca’s Share the Love campaign, 60 million girls received the most votes in our category (42%!!). Thanks to Divine.ca’s wonderful generosity, 60 million girls received a total donation of $2,626.19 for our 2009 projects. Thank you for taking the time to vote and to help fund girls education! From e-magazines to paper ones… Wanda Bedard and 60 million girls are the focus of an article in the October issue of Chatelaine magazine on women who change the world. It continues to be a great honour to have our work recognized. Each newspaper and magazine article, each radio and TV interview, each time you talk to your friends, family and colleagues about the foundation, more people become aware of the vital importance of education for girls in developing countries. We cannot let more time pass without ensuring that every child and specifically every girl sees their right to a quality education fulfilled. We know the statistics:
Healthy, safe, empowered girls transform families, communities and countries. We have chosen to invest in the women of tomorrow. Creativity knows no bounds The staff and students of Queen of Angels Academy in Dorval chose to support 60 million girls as part of their 2009 Lenten project. A very generous gesture to begin with but it was the girls’ creativity that was truly astounding!
Custom t-shirts were designed for the school to commemorate their involvement with 60 million girls in support of high school scholarships for the Lenca girls in Honduras. From there, pyjama parties, candy sales, blogs, auctions, pizza parties, manicure days, raffles, bake sales and outright asking for donations enabled these ambitious girls to raise over $9,000 – the equivalent of providing full junior high school bursaries to 32 young Lenca girls. Absolutely outstanding. The girls of Queen of Angels Academy put their hearts into providing other girls just like them the opportunity to fulfill their potential and become strong participants in their communities and role models for their families. A word from our marraine, Ariane Émond No doubt much like you, I am very impressed with the ever growing network of 60 million girls over the last months! Wonderful initiatives on the part of young women here, determined to act for those who have had so much less opportunity for a quality education, young women who have created real social networks around this cause that means so much to us all. How do we say thank you for the thousands of dollars that have come in to support our 2009 projects? I encourage each and every one of you to continue with the financial and moral support that you have generously provided for our past projects. The two projects that we are investing in this year are absolutely amazing particularly due to their deep roots in those communities so touched by poverty and violence. But they are also two eloquent examples, in Africa as in South America, that prove that a small number of determined people can change the lives of thousands of others. It is our responsibility as citizens of the world to help, as we can, all people to develop their full potential, and to be present to bring them support in times of need. It is also our duty to support those who have the ability and talent to become leaders and role models in their community. And as we know, it all starts with a good education, inspiring teachers and a community mobilized to support schooling for their children. We look forward to seeing you... Please mark your calendar!!!!! Our fourth annual conference will be held on Tuesday November 17th at Collège de Montréal with keynote speaker Betty Makoni. Click here for more information. 60 million girls is a public foundation established in February 2006 by a group of passionate women who share a very strong commitment to creating a more just and balanced world by supporting the empowerment of girls and women through education. We know that our every action will have an impact. Join us to create positive change in the world! To contact us, simply click here! |
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