Newsletters: Volume 17 - Fall 2006
From the President
Almost daily I am presented with an article about Africa. And it is reassuring that there are so many others who share the concern and vision for a better future. The most notable of these was the announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that it will soon provide billions of dollars for research in order to eradicate malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS. This effort will be aided by a huge contribution from billionaire Warren Buffet.
Justifiably, these efforts receive tremendous publicity. However, there are also many smaller but worthwhile programs to make a difference. Abdi Lidonde from Kenya came here to Worcester, MA to work for Holy Cross College. His dreams included those for a better Kenya, and he is less than two years away from opening a school there that will serve students from preschool through high school. His goal is to “create a new educational system that will lead to sustainable progress and the eradication of poverty.”
Located in Boston, MA, Friends of Tanzanian Schools is another outstanding organization whose goal is to fund the construction of classrooms and teachers’ quarters. I have personally seen the results of their fine work at schools in the Arusha area of Tanzania. Their primary source of funding comes from safari goers who have seen for themselves the inadequacy and poor quality of many of the schools in Tanzania.
Christine Ndawula, Program Officer at the Eastern Africa Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women recently wrote an article stating that “African women, especially in rural areas, still face daunting challenges.” One of the key issues she addresses is women’s education and the avoidance of poverty. She is clear – despite recent improvements, “normative gains are not yet reflected in substantial changes in women’s lives.”
African Women in Their Native Dress
Growth Through Learning is also actively participating in the effort to change all that. By providing scholarship funding for girls to attend secondary and post-secondary schools we are making a difference in the lives of hundreds of girls and young women in East Africa. In many cases, even a high school education will give these girls the “key to life.” In turn, they will be able to empower their own children by sharing their knowledge and insight. They will be able to read prescription bottles, know how to avoid disease such as HIV/AIDS, vote for women’s rights, and make sound life sustaining decisions. They will become employable so that they will be able to support themselves. The gist of all of the above efforts is clear. The key to the eradication of poverty, misery, and disease in third world countries lies within the empowerment of women.
From the Executive Director
Dear GTL Supporters,
It’s hard to believe that 6 months have passed since I first joined GTL – the time has simply flown by! There have been some changes, some additions and a lot of learning going on in the office!
Since our last newsletter GTL has officially been registered in Tanzania. This has allowed us to open our own bank account and has, as a by-product, created a local Board of Directors for GTL in country! We are carefully watching how this development improves our work in Tanzania and will take those lessons learned to Uganda and Kenya.
In September we participated in a fantastic festival celebrating Africa. This two-day festival, put on by the Worcester African Cultural Center highlighted many countries and cultures in Africa. It also allowed GTL to promote our good works to the local and African communities. We were fortunate to have had a slide show put together by Richard Jenson, GTL VP who spent 6 weeks in East Africa this summer (please see his article in this newsletter). It goes without saying that activities such as these would simply not be possible without the support of our very active Board members who spent hours both days staffing our table!
In closing, I am asking all of you to please send us your email addresses. We would like to start maximizing the technologies at our fingertips, but our email address book had not been a focus in the past. Please help us by simply sending us an email with your name in the subject or in the body of the email and we will “capture” your email address for our records.
For this, and for all you do to support Growth Through Learning, I thank you.
FY 2006 In Review
| Scholarships | Girls Supported | Cost in $US |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary School | 188 | $91,108 |
| Post Secondary School | 31 | $36,480 |
| Total Scholarships | 219 | $127,288 |
PayPal
Your contributions to GTL can now be made using Pay Pal. This secure electronic money transfer can be done at your convenience and arrives almost instantaneously in the GTL account. No fuss, no muss; no stamps and check! Please go to the GTL website at www.growththroughlearning.org and click on “How to Give” for instructions on how to use Pay Pal for your next donation to GTL.
Thank you.
African Cultural Festival
For two days in September, Africa came to Central Massachusetts and it was wonderful! Dancers and singers, vendors and activists all came together to educate the general public about Africa. Growth Through Learning participated in the annual African Cultural Festival put on by the Worcester Africa Cultural Center in part to support their efforts and in part to expand our visibility. On both fronts we were successful.
As the only non-profit organization in attendance (outside of the hosts), GTL was in a unique position to talk about the needs and challenges facing Africans. We were able to add scores of people to our mailing list and have already secured new sponsorship from new friends and supporters who met us at the Festival.
The African Cultural Center is only 2 years old but is a wonderful resource for Central Massachusetts. It houses an amazing gallery of art and artifacts from all over Africa, but mostly the western countries. Its Executive Director, Emil Igwenagu, is a native of Nigeria and has been in Worcester for more than 15 years. He is a wealth of knowledge about Africa and the challenges facing Africans. The Center holds classes for all ages and if in the future GTL has need for a public venue, we won’t do better than the Center’s main hall. The connection between GTL and the Worcester African Cultural Center is a natural one that surely will prove to be beneficial to all of us.
The success we had at the African Cultural Festival is due to the support of the GTL Board who helped staff the GTL table. Thank you, Roger, Jeanne, Donna, Judy and Richard for the hours you put in!
GTL Visit 2006
by Richard Jenson, Ph.D., GTL Vice President
A group of young school children at Kilimani School in Kenya where GTL students attend
Growth Through Learning tries to make sure all of our connections are functioning properly each year by making the rounds among the GTL sites; that is meeting with each coordinator in each area covered by GTL. For the past two summers I’ve had the great honor to be the GTL representative and travel to East Africa to meet with our coordinators, secondary school headmistresses (and headmasters) and most of the approximately two hundred girls we sponsor.
In July I began my 5 week-long trip by spending several days in both Nairobi and Kampala before settling down in Arusha, Tanzania for four weeks. This was my first visit to both Kenya and Uganda and I wasn’t disappointed. English comes very easily to the GTL girls in Uganda and Kenya and so they were easily able to answer the questions I asked. At each GTL site, our coordinator graciously escorted me to the schools at which GTL girls study. I was greeted warmly at each school, where GTL was praised for its efforts to educate young women in secondary school.
Administrative time spent in Tanzania paid off and now that GTL is registered as an officially recognized NGO in that country, we’ve opened a GTL bank account in Arusha. Our Tanzanian Board made up of local professionals, with “boots on the ground”, can give us even more oversight and more input of information on our girls.
Richard Jenson teaching in Africa
I photographed and interviewed nearly all of the more than 80 girls that GTL supports in Tanzania. I even took a short trip to Dar es Salaam to meet our coordinator there during this interview/photograph mission.
The most valuable result of this intensive five week visit was in verifying the professionalism of our coordinators and meeting most of the girls we sponsor. My time in East Africa this summer convinced me that our work there is both effective and welcomed.
New Board Member
Mary Schwartz, EDD, of Holden, MA holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Nursing from the University of Detroit, Mercy and Wayne State University, respectively. She also earned a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts.
Mary is currently working as a Healthcare Quality Consultant after working many years in nursing and hospital administration and serving as faculty in nursing education programs. She has served on multiple healthcare committees at state and national levels and has served the Town of Holden by sitting on several boards and commissions. Mary became interested in GTL after traveling to East and South Africa where the plight of women without education became evident as a critical factor impacting the future development of those areas.
The African Dilemma
Not long ago, someone asked, “If we help the East African people to become better educated, are there worthwhile jobs available for them after they have finished school? What will they “do” with more education? This is surely a valid question, and one that deserves a clear answer. It is also a question that is more complex than it first appears. The investment in education may seem like small potatoes compared to an investment in infrastructure, but one without the other just won’t work. But, which comes first, “the chicken or the egg”?
During my research in late 1996 and early 1997 that led to the founding of Growth Through Learning, I e-mailed hundreds of people with an interest in East Africa. My basic question was this: “Is it feasible to create an educational scholarship fund for the people of East Africa?” The response was a resounding--”YES!” There was only one dissenter. This man stated that “what the people need instead of education is foreign investment in infrastructure, plants and equipment.” My response to him was, “Okay, that’s needed too, but without an educated work force, who are you going to get to run your plants and equipment?” I never received a response.
First, I totally agree that one very important result that we expect from education is that those who benefit from education should be in a position to better their own lives and the lives of those around them. We rightly expect increased education to raise the standard of living, that is, to enable a people to provide for themselves more and better food, cleaner water, more adequate medical care, suitable clothing and suitable housing. My questioner asks, pointedly and honestly: will education bring this about in an underdeveloped part of the world like East Africa? Can we realistically expect there to be opportunities for the people we educate so that they can get better jobs and be better off? Will there be a sufficient infrastructure to empower the educated individuals, and in turn, to assist significantly in raising the standard of living in East Africa? Or, is there a genuine risk of educating people beyond the opportunities for employment, and thus even worsen the situation by adding frustration to lack of opportunity?
Sister Salome and Students at St. Kizito High School in Uganda
I don’t think there is a genuine risk here. The history of industrialized nations has shown that the level of education within a society has a direct bearing on its standard of living. Increased literacy and more universal education have a good track record in bringing increased opportunity and wealth to nations. Education, in fact, stimulates our imaginative and entrepreneurial instincts and thus tends to foster the creation of jobs that require ever-higher levels of knowledge and expertise.
But I haven’t answered the question. “Will there be jobs available for someone in East Africa who is educated beyond the norm that now exists there?” Well...maybe yes, maybe no. The relevant point is that unless and until there is an educated work force, there won’t be anyone to support a developing infrastructure!
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Sure, build the communication systems, electricity generators, manufacturing plants, water purification installations, financial institutions, and whatever else is needed. Can they really be managed efficiently? Perhaps not, at least not yet. The required levels of expertise and work habits will have to be developed and nourished. That will take time. However, education and capital investment simply must go hand in hand.
E-mail Addresses Needed
The staff at Growth Through Learning is working on updating our data base and would appreciate it if you would all email us at the office so we could have your most recent and accurate email address. Please take a moment and email us and we will use that email address for you. The GTL email address is: . Please write you name in the subject line. Thank you!
Last modified: Nov 12, 2006, 16:13 EST