Thank you For One World supporters!
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010Please donate $1, $10, $100! We are looking for 100% participation!
Donate.ForOneWorld.org
Each year we count on your support to continue the progress we have made as an organization and to help children who otherwise would not have an opportunity to attend school, especially girls. If you stand for equality, stability and sustainability through education – you stand with For One World and the Ayi Owen International School, inspired by Ayisatu.
For One World began in 1998 as a small group of college students, who raised the initial money to open the Ayi Owen International School in Ghana, which opened with a handful of students. After twelve years of countless volunteer hours, local donations of land and money, and your donations, we now have 440 students and 36 teachers! And in 2010 the school ranked #1 in the district on the national exam! We have earned the right to be proud of our accomplishments, and our positive impact on the local community.
These are the stories of two of the people your donations are helping (names kept anonymous):
·       She is 15 years old and one of the 18 “orphans†living at the school and 3 years older than her classmates. She is strong in math and science – not the norm. She tutors the others living at the school and pretends to be a teacher. Her mother lives on the street and sweeps the market after hours collecting spilled rice, etc. and attempts to resell it barely sustaining herself. Her father ran away many years ago. She is studying hard for the national exams and hopes to become a nurse some day. Your donations pay for her clothing/shoes (~$26/yr), medical care (~$50/yr), daily food (~$280/yr), school fees (~$175/yr), books/notebooks ($32/yr), etc. Our travel grant winners spend most evenings with her and the other children who live at the school.
·         She is in 7th grade, also started late and older than her classmates. She stays with her aunt in a location of town called “strangers quarters†and it is not clear if she stays in a home or sleeps on the street. Her aunt gets home from the grain market after dark. Her mother ran away when she was little and her poverty stricken near blind father visits every few years when he comes from the frontier. She seems to have had a violent past and teachers spend many hours counseling her on her temper. She is a hard worker, currently below average and finds inspiration in sports. Your donations cover her school fees, books, clothing, and medical care.
2010 For One World Volunteer highlights:
·         Ailis Peterson is 8 years old and on her own asked the principle of her elementary school if she could address the school during Friday assembly. Ailis challenged the students at Carrillo Elementary School to donate their unwanted or unused school and art supplies to Ayi Owen School. Her mother, Bridget Peterson has been spearheading efforts to solicit in kind donations for the Ayi Owen School. The mother and daughter team collected 10 moving boxes full of crayons, markers, pencils, pens and sports equipment! If you would like to make an in kind donations please email Bridget@ForOneWorld.org
·         Taylor Bowen, a high school student, was inspired by For One World to organize a group of interested classmates as part of her senior project. She is paying her own way to Ghana in February to build an innovative volunteer program for high school students. Taylor@ForOneWorld.org
·         Loretta Cremmins traveled to the school in 2009 as the recipient of the collegiate travel grant. She continued her dedication to For One World and during her senior year, she was awarded a grant (her site is http://f1w.weebly.com/) from the Center for Urban and Global Studies to address the topic of global education and raise awareness on campus regarding For One World. Loretta@ForOneWorld.org
·         Cyrus Morgan and Tiffany Washburn our travel grant winners for 2010 spent their summer volunteering at the school. Tiffany made great progress with math comprehension and science experiments to help students understand the concepts beyond memorization. Cyrus helped in a program to learn local language first, bridge to English after third grade as well as focused on improving how exams are administered to drive a deeper understanding – key to the higher test results on the national exams. Tiffany@ForOneWorld.org, Cyrus@ForOneWorld.org
2010 For One World donor highlights:
·         Stephen Colbert donated $3,000 from the sale of his Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream ice cream flavor to For One World on behalf of the staff and crew of The Colbert Report. Thanks to Erica Myrickes’ efforts to make this happen! Erica@ForOneWorld.org
·         Rotary International provided a grant for $17,600 representing our largest donation to date thanks to the efforts of John Donnelly. John@ForOneWorld.org
·         Thanks to those who have already made a donation in 2010 including Leverett Smith and Gretchen Peterson’s continued generosity.
·         Thanks to Alex van Voorhees for his continued support of our Travel Grants making it affordable for college volunteers to spend the summer volunteering, critical to driving up quality at the Ayi Owen International School. Alex@ForOneWorld.org
·         Wilfred (Bill) and Ayisatu Owen’s donations over the years exceed any other contribution both in hours and dollars. They are an inspiration to all of us! Bill@ForOneWorld.org
Looking ahead to 2011, we are taking a big step. We are making the transition from an all-volunteer organization to one with a part time employee, April Acut. Another big step for the organization: new pro bono software, which will make it easier to donate, improve communications and will keep our operating costs near zero. Our board and volunteers give more than 50% of the individual donations, so we are all incentivized to ensure our donations are linked to successful programs with no waste and giving only what is required. Our goal is not to donate forever, but to find long term solutions.
None of the major accomplishments that took place in 2010 would have been possible without you. Â We are counting on your support again for the coming year, which promises to be the organization’s most exciting year yet. Please donate today!
Donate.ForOneWorld.org
Thanks again to each of you.
Happy Holidays!
-James
James@ForOneWorld.org
