Updates From the World

Mar 31, 2020 | Students

Hello everyone, we hope that you are keeping safe and healthy wherever you are in the middle of this terrible time we are all living through. We have been in touch with most of our girls and thankfully everyone is doing OK right now.

Here’s some news from them and the foundation from the past few weeks.

FUNDRAISER: Our Global Market for Girls Education on March 1 (seems like a lifetime ago) was really fun and very successful. So many students and teachers and local artists were involved, and we raised about $4500, which will cover many of our girls for the coming year. We are so grateful to all the people who participated and attended, and of their support for girls’ education!

School fair around Christmastime

HONDURAS: Linda Maria is doing well in third grade. Schools are closed there, but her mother sent us the schedule for her online and Zoom classes, so we’re really glad that she can still study. Linda Maria has asthma, so the family is very concerned for her health, and everyone is staying in. We have some wonderful photos and videos up on her page so please visit and catch up!

GUATEMALA: Schools in Guatemala are closed as well, and Alicia is waiting to be able to go back to take all her classes that we are helping her take. We hope she’ll be able to return to school soon.

NEPAL: Our contact Subash wrote to let us know that the school is closed there as well, and everyone is staying home. He knows that the girls are doing ok, because they are all in the same community. So we’re glad to know the girls are safe.

Prerana recording a Coronavirus PSA

INDIA: All of India is shut down and people are required to stay in except for essential errands. Unfortunately, life in the slums in Mumbai is not a life where one can stay six feet away from anyone else, so we hope that our girls and their families are going to be OK. We did receive a wonderful recording of Prerana making a Public Service Announcement about Coronavirus safety for her community. Her speaking and recording skills are coming in very handy for her community, and we are so happy that she is able to help. We know how powerless it feels to see people scared and suffering, and to be able to help a little is a wonderful thing.

UGANDA: Schools in Uganda are closed and the girls are at home with their families. Again, they don’t live in a situation where social distancing is a possibility, but at least they aren’t traveling too much and they are at home. Our contacts there tell us that both Naomi and Rebecca are doing fine and are waiting for school to start again.

NICARAGUA: Unfortunately, the government in Nicaragua is downplaying the severity of the virus, has refused to close schools, and is even planning and holding large rallies. Luckily, not that many people are going to the rallies, according to friends who live there. But it means that our girls are still in school and living life normally in a very crowded country. We’re thankful they live in a smaller town, but are keeping our fingers crossed that no one there in town gets sick, because El Sauce does not have the medical facilities to deal with an outbreak there. Elizabeth is living in Leon during the week and attending classes. She comes home every weekend. She did receive a scholarship from the university that gives her a place to live through the week, but she will be applying to us for a partial scholarship to cover school and lab supplies, transportation and some of her food. We’re excited to receive her application!

TANZANIA: Schools in Tanzania are closed and the girls are all in Moshi with their families, or in housing provided by our contacts Greg and Shannon. The government there sounds like it is doing very little to help; citizens have been told to go to churches since the virus is the work of Satan, who cannot survive in churches. No one is being told anything, and Greg and Shannon are the main source of information for all their students, including our three young women. We hope this will improve soon and they can go back to school.

HAITI: Schools in Haiti are also closed, which is especially sad because they just returned in January after being out for several months due to the political unrest and violence last year. We received Achecaina’s very partial report card from before school closed (marks only for January and February), but we don’t know if they will have to repeat the year or not.

We thank you so much for your support, and want you to know that we are still working hard to give these young women every chance so that they can help build a better world for all of us. We will keep updating you on the news we receive from our contacts. We look forward to seeing them in person again soon, and sending you more wonderful photographs. Until then, we hope that you and your friends and loved ones will all stay safe and healthy.

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