Women’s Global Education Project
Newsletter
March 2008
Sisters to School adds 30 more Kenya scholars
Women’s Global Education Project is pleased to announce the addition of 30 more scholars to our Sisters to
School - Kenya program! This brings our total number of Kenya scholars to 60 elementary and secondary school girls.
Through Sisters to School, Women’s Global partners with Tharaka Women’s Welfare Program in the rural Tharaka district near
Mount Kenya to help girls from the region’s neediest families attend and succeed in school.
We also address critical health issues such as malaria prevention and the eradication of female genital mutilation to
remove health-related barriers to girls’ access to the education they need to build a brighter future.
“Girls ROCK!” Women’s Global speaks on girls’ education for the Chicago Global Donors Network
Women’s Global was honored to be part of “Girls Rock: Supporting Girls’ Education,” a panel on girls’ education
at the Chicago Global Donors Network fourth annual conference, held at The Chicago Club last Sept. 24- 25.
Women’s Global Board Member Joan Sherman, who teaches international development and the politics of gender
at Northwestern University, joined Sarah Bouchie of CARE USA and Caren Yanis of the Oprah Winfrey Foundation
in presenting how projects for gender equality and girls’ education are key to fostering economic development and social
change in developing nations.
Meeting our Kenya partners
On a trip to Kenya last year, longtime Women’s Global supporter Molly Waite met Project Coordinator
Aniceta Kiriga and learned all about our Kenya programs in person. Molly also hand-delivered items
to Aniceta from our U.S. staff, including a donated laptop for Aniceta and our Kenya program.
Thank you, Molly!
U.S. State Dept. Boren Fellow Helps Out in Senegal
W omen’s Global is pleased to have Alison Pflepsen, a David L. Boren Fellow with the U.S. State Department,
working with us in Senegal! Alison will be with us for six months, working with our partner organization UDEN on
program development and evaluation and on networking with potential partners and funders. Alison has a master’s
degree in development management and international education, served in Senegal with the Peace Corps,
and has worked with several African NGOs.
Senegal Scholar Spotlight: Fatou Sarr
Boren Fellow Alison Pflepsen has met many of our 65 scholars and 40 after-school tutees during her time in Senegal.
Here, she shares her conversation with 12-year-old Fatou Sarr, who comes from a very poor family but sees a
brighter future for them because she is able to go to school.
Alison: How has the scholarship helped you?
Fatou: Before I would have to get up at 5 am and walk four kilometers to get to the school. I also had difficulty buying
materials and supplies for school. The scholarship allows me to board with a family close to the school so I don’t have to
walk so far, and my school fees and supplies are taken care of. The after-school tutoring has also helped me excel in school,
especially in math, which is my favorite subject because I am good at it!
Alison: What are your dreams and goals for the future?
Fatou: I would like to become a nurse and help my family be able to buy things and have a better future!
DONOR SPOTLIGHT: The $10 Club
Is it really possible to save the world just by giving up a couple lattes at Starbucks, buying a cheaper bottle of wine, or
forgoing a night at the movies? That’s the idea behind The $10 Club, a community of individuals who each donates $10
every month to be pooled together to fund poverty alleviation projects around the world.
Since being founded in 2002, The $10 Club has raised $138,000 to fund nearly 60 projects in 48 developing nations!
Last October, 372 members of The $10 Club joined together to donate $3,720 to Women’s Global for our Sisters-to-
School Senegal program. This funding will support our elementary and secondary school scholars in Senegal with their
school fees, books, knapsacks, notebooks, pens, pencils, and personal health supplies.
Women’s Global would like to thank The $10 Club for their support of our sustainable programs for girls’ education in
Senegal! For more information about The $10 Club, visit www.thetendollarclub.org.
Thanksgiving Fund awards $25,000 to Women’s Global!
Women’s Global would like to thank the Thanksgiving Fund for their generous grant of $25,000!
The Thanksgiving Fund is a donor-advised fund of the American Endowment Foundation dedicated to
fostering change and progress in collaboration with organizations like Women’s Global whose
impact is designed to support individuals and communities in the creative resolution of the
root causes of the issues they face.
Shout-out to our Volunteers!
...including our youngest volunteers, 9-year-old Jackie Merced-Ortega and 4-year-old
Gia Reid, who began their lifetime of volunteerism by helping with our recent mailings!
Richelle Albrecht
Natalie Archie
Malii Brown
Heidi Dessecker
Enide Dufresne
Makeysha Durham
Xochitl Espinosa
Kim Evon
Brady G'sell
Phaona Gray-
Rodriguez
Lara Jacobs
Lisa Jacobus
Soudary Kittivong-
Greenbaum
Mathieu Kouame
Adriana Loaiza
Erindira Lopez
Norma Maglio
Marissa McCants
Robyn Michaels
Jenn Miller
Jim Schwartz
Julia Sportolari
Robert Reid
Sandra Urban
Heather Vezina
THANK YOU TO OUR RECENT DONORS! Sept.—Dec. 2007
CORPORATE
IBM
King Insurance Consultants Group
Leinenweber & Baroni Consulting
New Century Bank
Sandbox Studio
ShoreBank
FUNDRAISERS
Stephanie Baldwin
Peter & Elena Baroni
Denise Bellezzo & David Bower
Anthony & Jennifer Benish
Helene & Harvey Berlin
Lynn Besser
Sarah Bogan
Fern Bogot & Norman Wald
Lena & Steve Olsher
Malii Brown
Syreeta Carrington
Blanche & Ronald Clark
Elaine Clemens
Lisa Cochrane
Diarmaid Collins & Sarah McCarthy
Alisa Devlaeminck
Cecelia Downs & Dennis Temple
Wendy Espeland
Timothy Frank
Michael & Jennifer Gardner
Michelle Gavin
Howard & Rebecca Grill
Brady G'Sell
Elaine Hegwood Bowen
Laura Hohnhold & Andrew Otting
Beth & Andrew Isaacs
Nicole Jackson
Nancy Juda & Jens Brasch
Catherine Kallal & Maurice Lemon
Gretchen & Dexter Kamilewicz
Khadidjatou Kane
Daniel & Suzanne Kanter
Blaine & Laura Kimrey
John Kulczycki & Regina Bowgierd
Phil & Norma Maglio
Mame Khouredia Niang
Elsinore Mann
Peter Marino
Zafar Mawani
James McDonald
Maila Merced & John Ortega
Robyn Michaels
Tracy Nicholas
Eve & Fred Ozer
Hasha Perman
Deborah Plager &
Alexander Kamilewicz
Rebecca Port
Alexander Pramenko
Carol Pranschke
Charlie Racho & Maria Odiamar
Thais & Robert Reid
Barbara Rose & Neil Peck
Joan & Bruce Sherman
Lawrence Sherman
Julie Sportolari
Julie & Vito Stagliano
Sharon Steckler
Yao & Dan Streng
Heather & John Sweeney
Wylmarie Sykes
William Taylor
Debra & David Tolchinsky
Waren Tsafa
Jennifer Walter
Darlene Watkins
Shenetta Webster
Susan Weissman
HOLIDAY GIVING
Ardelle Baroni
Margaret & J.A. Blair
Drew & Pat Carberry
Carol Beth Conklin
Valerie & Greg Dixon
Charles & Monica Flynn
Kurt Foote
Seymour Glagov Trust
Ramon & Gloria Hott
John Ismay
Gretchen & Dexter Kamilewicz
Lorraine & Tom Kasznia
Nadeen Kieren &
Thomas Greene
Virginia Koch
Rochelle & Max Plager
Deborah Plager &
Alexander Kamilewicz
Jennifer Sachs & Bill Maggs
Sam Scher
Mildred & Sidney Schwartz
Yao & Dan Streng
Anda & Zoltan Sztankay
William Taylor
Patricia Tuohy
Western Montana RPCVs
Linda & Michael White
INDIVIDUAL GIVING
Marla Baker
Lynda Brodsky
Carol E. Cheng
Ellen & Brian Clayton
Howard & Judy Cohen
Bill Dolnick & Rachel Abramson
Julie Dorfman & Jerry Hearst
Elliot & Kathryn Fudd
David & Tina Herpe
Jacob & Sara Kader
Joanne Kalnitz & Marshall Sorkin
Laura Kennedy &
Christopher Boffey
Melinda L. Kraemer
Paul Maglio & Teenie Matlock
Joan Sachs
Greg & Donna Werth
CLASS SPONSORS
Lynn Besser
Gail & Matthew Daleo
Nancy Hild
Daniel & Suzanne Kanter
John Kulczycki &
Regina Bowgierd
Phil & Norma Maglio
Katherine Nolan
Eve & Fred Ozer
Sherry Siegel
Adele Simmons
Wylmarie Sykes
William Taylor
Leo Tibensky
Areta Williams
Thank you, Troop 255!
Girl Scout Troop 255 of Evanston, Illinois, held a 5-kilometer walk as a service project to raise $750 for Women’s Global!
It was a great way for the girls to raise awareness about the importance of girls’ education. Thank you!
Special Thanks!
Women’s Global thanks IBM for their donation of two laptops through their OnDemand Community Program. IBM also recently
announced its Global Citizen's Portfolio, a broad effort in partnership with non-governmental organizations to place
employees in developing nations to build relationships and work on some of the world's toughest problems, such as
enhancing global economic opportunity and access to education resources, and which includes an emphasis on supporting
the role of women in the economic development of Africa.
Women’s Global also thanks retired Oakton Community College Professor of Political Science Bill Taylor, who
donated a new laptop for our Senegal program and asked friends and colleagues to donate their used laptops to us. Bill first
heard about Women’s Global two years ago when we were featured on Chicago Public Radio global affairs show
Worldview. After host Jerome McDonnell promoted our 2007 fundraiser, Bill decided to attend— and got hooked
on girls’ education. Since then, Bill has become a class sponsor and joined our advisory board. Many thanks also to Connie
Porteus who donated a laptop for our Kenya program through Bill.
The Kenya Elections Crisis:
Letter from Aniceta Kiriga, Women’s Global Kenya Project Coordinator
I would like to thank everyone for your concern for our safety here in Kenya during the elections crisis.
We are thankful that here in Tharaka we were mostly untouched by the violence. Except for students who go to
school in one of the affected areas, we have been able to go about our normal business in the community. But we have
been sorely grieved at the atrocities that have claimed the lives of so many of our fellow Kenyans. We have been very
sad to see Kenya divided so violently by these riots and to see so many homes burned and so many families and
communities torn apart, especially in the Nairobi area, the towns of Kisumu and Eldoret, and the Rift Valley.
As I write to you, I am happy to report that the situation has cooled down a little, and that life in Kenya is starting to go
back to normal. Both the government and the opposition have told their constituents to stop the riots and not to seek
revenge. Strong police forces patrol the affected towns and roads to allow schools and businesses to reopen and to
allow displaced families to begin traveling back home. Hopefully, the worst of this crisis is over so that Kenya can begin
to rebuild.
More than ever, I believe in the importance of our work here in Kenya to promote education and to build a more peaceful society.
Through education, we are able to bring people from different ethnic backgrounds together to learn from one another and to
begin to break down the barriers that divide. Education exposes our youth to people from different backgrounds and gives them
ways to work together for the common good. Education gives people tools to build a better future for their families. Education
gives people hope.
About Women's Global
Women’s Global Education Project was founded on the idea that everyone is entitled to an education, regardless of gender or
economic status.
UNICEF estimates that worldwide, some 117 million school-aged children do not attend school, 62 million of them girls.
Attendance rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 57 percent of girls are in school, and just 15 percent of these
go on to secondary school. Women’s Global believes that universal
education, gender equality and empowerment of women are critical to a
society’s
development. Our mission is to provide access to education and develop training program that empower women and girls to
build better lives and foster equitable communities.
Our programs are currently focused on Senegal and Kenya, where we provide scholarships, after-school tutoring, summer school,
mentoring, and health education programs to help girls and their families build a brighter economic future for themselves, their
communities and our world as a whole.