A THANK YOU and AN UPDATE!

Greetings friends, family and fellow change agents!

I figured it’s time I give you an update. First, I’d like to add some names to my “Thank you" list. The following people are giving six teenage girls in Uganda a fighting chance of freedom, by allowing them the opportunity to be educated:

Robin Wes

Jodi Wes

Len Walker

Robin Negrin

Christina Lorella

Julia Miller

Selene Aswell

Sean Regmi

Stephanie Pipes

And Naomi Tajchman-Kaplan

Your generous donations have helped so much! Like I previously mentioned, we don’t have enough money to fund all six girls just yet, but in keeping the faith, we have decided to send them all to school anyway.

It has been a difficult process to say the least. The school system in Uganda is worlds away than what we are used to in America. Everything is based on the year-end exam. That score will determine which school one will be admitted to. I can’t believe the pressure these girls have been under, and can’t help myself from thinking that if I had had to go through the same educational system during my schooling years-that I would have never made it. I find it sad actually, that there is no consideration for other aspects of the student. “My" girls have no parents and are forced to take care of all their younger siblings; cooking, cleaning, working in the field… of course there is little time to study! Also, with what they have been through, there is an obvious level of psychological distress that inevitably gets in the way of their ability to focus. And what about the bad test takers? I used to freeze when it came to tests, and never felt like my test results reflected my intelligence. Many people sponsor school fees in Uganda, and most, I have found, choose their students based on their scores. My approach is different. I want to choose students based on their lives… the whole point being that they deserve a second chance.

So again, this process has been a difficult one, but I am learning... and we are well on our way! Melissa has started Senior 3 at Sacred Heart, and Joyce, Sarah, Grace, Brenda, and Scovia will begin school on Monday at Pope Paul II. They are all so excited, and so grateful to all of you who made this possible. I really can’t express my gratitude either. There is no way I could do this work alone.

Please continue to spread this message, so we can continue our work of empowering girls through education in Uganda. Currently, we are working on registering as an NGO so that we can begin to apply for grants.  But until then, we are relying on the generous donations of selfless people like YOU and the names I mentioned earlier. You don’t have to be on the ground to make these changes. Let me be your hands. “If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” -Mother Teresa

Donations can be made via Paypal: Dishywes@hotmail.com

Love you all!

~Jenna