Education For All
I want a future where every child has an opportunity for an education. My visit to Kenya last January was the impetus to put that dream into action.
I was in Kenya doing research for the Earth Institute’s Millennium Cities Initiative, a project which seeks to create economic development in the city of Kisumu, Kenya through foreign investment. While there, I had the opportunity to visit the community of Sauri, one of ten Millennium Villages in Africa being given support by the Earth Institute as part of their initiative to develop Sub-Saharan Africa.
In Sauri, I spoke with the manager of the community’s resource center. He shared with me the obstacles to getting an education faced by the children of this community. High school is not free in Kenya and children must pay approximately $1000 per year. In a community with high poverty rates, these costs are prohibitive, leaving many children without a high school diploma.
During our conversation I couldn’t stop thinking that I had the power to give a child an education. I didn’t have the money myself, but I calculated in my head, if 100 people gave $40, or 400 people gave $10, we could change this girl’s life. I was empowered.
At the end of our conversation I shook his hand and promised to raise $4000 to send one young girl to school next year. I told him I would have the money by January 2008, in time for the beginning of the Kenyan school year. I told him that I would share this opportunity with all of my friends and family, and together we would provide this girl with an education. Sure, it's just one girl in one community. But there's no telling how that one girl will transform her family, and her community, as a result of our support.
So my friends, we start by empowering one young girl through our donations. To donate, click on the Earth Institute link, https://giving.columbia.edu/giveonline/?schoolstyle=664. Be sure to choose ‘Millennium Village – Sauri, Kenya’ in the ‘Select a designation’ field, to ensure that the money goes to the correct project.
Once you have donated, please forward this website to all of your friends, family, co-workers, etc. so that they can contribute to this young girl’s life. Then, check back in the future to see how close, or far, we are to achieving our goal, by clicking on the stats icon.
Thank you for supporting a future where every child has the opportunity for an education.
I was in Kenya doing research for the Earth Institute’s Millennium Cities Initiative, a project which seeks to create economic development in the city of Kisumu, Kenya through foreign investment. While there, I had the opportunity to visit the community of Sauri, one of ten Millennium Villages in Africa being given support by the Earth Institute as part of their initiative to develop Sub-Saharan Africa.
In Sauri, I spoke with the manager of the community’s resource center. He shared with me the obstacles to getting an education faced by the children of this community. High school is not free in Kenya and children must pay approximately $1000 per year. In a community with high poverty rates, these costs are prohibitive, leaving many children without a high school diploma.
During our conversation I couldn’t stop thinking that I had the power to give a child an education. I didn’t have the money myself, but I calculated in my head, if 100 people gave $40, or 400 people gave $10, we could change this girl’s life. I was empowered.
At the end of our conversation I shook his hand and promised to raise $4000 to send one young girl to school next year. I told him I would have the money by January 2008, in time for the beginning of the Kenyan school year. I told him that I would share this opportunity with all of my friends and family, and together we would provide this girl with an education. Sure, it's just one girl in one community. But there's no telling how that one girl will transform her family, and her community, as a result of our support.
So my friends, we start by empowering one young girl through our donations. To donate, click on the Earth Institute link, https://giving.columbia.edu/giveonline/?schoolstyle=664. Be sure to choose ‘Millennium Village – Sauri, Kenya’ in the ‘Select a designation’ field, to ensure that the money goes to the correct project.
Once you have donated, please forward this website to all of your friends, family, co-workers, etc. so that they can contribute to this young girl’s life. Then, check back in the future to see how close, or far, we are to achieving our goal, by clicking on the stats icon.
Thank you for supporting a future where every child has the opportunity for an education.