Having overcome extreme obstacles with the death of both of her parents, 16-year-old Eunice Makwana is determined to finish her education as a student with Carolina for Kibera. Living in the Nairobi of Kenya, Eunice is a 9th grader at the Starays Hope Community Center.



However, attending school school became increasingly difficult for Eunice. While a neighbor helped feed Eunice and her seven siblings, school fees were left unpaid. And so, Eunice and her siblings would wash and farm for their neighbors in order to pay for school tuition. Having to take multiple months off of school, Eunice's education has been undoubtedly hampered by her unstable financial situation. Read more about Eunice's story from a handwritten note from her.

After the several leaves of absence, Eunice hopes to be back for a consistent period of time. Her dream of finishing school “has been answered by Carolina for Kibera” so her future can be the bright again. Eunice's hobbies include football, and she aspires to become a teacher one day. And with the support of Givology donors, Eunice's development into a strong young woman can continue as she advances her place in her community as a thinker and professional with Carolina for Kibera!

Read more and help support other Carolina for Kibera students like Eunice here!

The NYC chapter of Givology held a fantastic fundraiser in support of More than Me's "I Promise Project".

Here's a letter from Kevin Kim, one of our dedicated chapter members.

*****

Hello everyone-

A Night of Promise was a great success, and we couldn’t have done it without your help! The evening was action packed. People were tearing up the dance floor all night long to the impeccable beats of DJs Sammy the Lost Boy and Han Dienasty. The More Than Me and Givology networks were chatting up a storm and getting to know one another. The auction was absolutely exciting thanks to our great MC Skip Borghese and the incredible donations from the Borghese family, Oakes family, and Loews Hotels. And there was copious amounts of alcohol flowing throughout the night because of our great sponsors Wodka, Radeberger, and Baccardi.



We are all so glad that everyone had so much fun while contributing to such a great cause! We raised over $21,000 for More Than Me’s I Promise Project, which will help us to fund an after school center in Liberia. Through your ticket purchases and donations we will be able to give young girls a place where they can be mentored and learn vocational skills. More importantly, the center will provide a safe place for the girls to go after their classes.



When we began planning A Night of Promise in early December, I couldn’t have imagined that the event would be as successful as it was. I had only been helping More Than Me for a handful of months and been a member of Givology’s NYC chapter for even less time. While helping to plan A Night of Promise, I have gotten to know both organizations so much better and have been incredibly impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication of the individuals involved. Everyone pitched in where they could and the sum of our work helped to create a really great evening. I’m glad that I got involved and encourage you to do the same.

Thanks again everyone, and a special shout out to our sponsors and volunteers!



Cheers,
Kevin

Focus on Giving with Charlie Javice, Founder of PoverUP





Charlie Javice, a rising sophomore at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, is founder of PoverUp, an online network that lets socially minded students learn, connect and invest in social businesses and microfinance -- the concept that a little money can help poor people start businesses that will lift them out of poverty. In addition to getting high school and college students involved in microfinance through consulting work and internships with microfinance institutions and social businesses, PoverUp also gives individuals the chance to invest in small businesses globally and helps microfinance operators get the money they need to assist individuals and businesses.

PoverUp, which launched in April 2011, was named one of Inc. Magazine's "11 Coolest College Startups," and Javice, who is 19, was one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business 2011. - From Knowledge@Wharton

PoverUP

Givology: Give to Learn, Learn to Give

The Norm
More often than not, I hear my father say, “If you live under my roof, then you follow my rules.” His roof, he says. I have never given a second thought about having a roof. That’s the norm, after all. But, things aren’t always this dandy in Mali.

The Not-So-Norm
Especially with harsh weather conditions, a rainy day means an unusable classroom and a school day off. A school day-off, you scoff. We would all like school days off. However, to these kids, learning and being at school is a luxury and they want to be there. They want to learn. An education gives them a brighter future and better life.



Solo Elementary School was built in 1999 in Bougouni, Mali by the Ouelessebougou Alliance. It was a blessing to all those kids in the village; over 150 kids attend this school this year and trends continue to show positive change. But 13 years has passed since the original building of the school and the infrastructure is getting damaged. The cement on the colors and ceilings is beginning to crack and break and in one classroom, the broken concrete has left a large hole in the floor.

Please help by donating for the repairing of this school. A better learning environment gives way to more opportunities and better learning conditions.

Click to here donate!
Click to here learn more!

From being forced to hide under her parent's bed during door-to-door school recruitment campaigns to facing the daunting belief of her grandfather that an education is wasted on girls, 15-year-old Brenda Lacan has defied the odds in achieving her education. With the support of her mother Maria who was never able to pursue her education, Brenda is determined to prove the expectations of her grandfather wrong.



With her two older sisters in high school and her parents working in the embroidery business, the family could not afford to have Brenda continue with secondary school in Guatemala. But after being awarded a Starfish scholarship, Brenda has been making steady progress. She was initially failing three classes when she started 7th grade and was disheartened about her schooling, but her mentor has worked closely with her, as Brenda has passed one more class each semester. As of the most recent exams last August, Brenda not only passed all of her classes, but she also earned high marks. She now feels empowered and excited about school while her self-esteem has improved.



Brenda is excelling in the Starfish Empowerment Program for girls, even being one of the leaders in her 15-member Starfish group. With her own savings and email account, Brenda is also one of the the top students in her class. Aside from focusing on her studies, Brenda enjoys basketball and embroidery.

To learn more about Brenda and leave her a comment, check out her group blog!

More than Me & Givology to Host Kick-off Fundraiser to Raise Funds for Safe House

For more information and to RSVP, go to www.anightofpromise.com

EVENT DATE: JANUARY 28TH, 7-11 PM AT MARQUEE
TO JOIN THE EVENT AS PRESS, PLEASE E-MAIL KATIE@MORETHANME.ORG or JOYCE.MENG@GIVOLOGY.ORG

Remember the good old days back in high school? After the last period of the day, guys and girls would leave campus in their Mustangs, Corollas, or Accords, or simply take a nice stroll home. The only thing on our minds at that point was: what is my work for the day? Or, when am I hanging out with my friends? What are we doing?

These simple nuances and plans occupy our daily mindset all the time. Indeed, safety is seldom an issue in these cases. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Liberia, where 60% of children, the majority girls, are out of school and on the dangerous streets of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. Since then, the More than Me foundation has has delivered the gift of education to numerous girls in the slums of the city and given them the opportunity to finally live normal lives.

However, the fight simply does not end there. Granting a child an education is only part of the process of ensuring his or her wellbeing. After school, these girls are susceptible to dangers that lurk every corner in Monrovia, including sexual abuse. A safe house is necessary in the capital: a place where the girls can stay away from the streets while receiving tutoring, therapy, vocational training, class trips and an opportunity to participate in sports, art, and yoga classes that teach self-esteem and soft skills which will make them successful beyond their basic education.

More Than Me from What Took You So Long? on Vimeo.

And that is where More than Me and Givology are trying to initiate a great deal of change. The More than Me Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on education development in Liberia, and Givology have partnered to host a fundraiser at Marquee Nightclub, in Chelsea, on January 28th from 7-11PM. Featuring DJs Sammy and the Lost Boy and Han DieNasty, an open bar, and remarks by Multi Media Exposure, Inc. president and More than Me board member, Prince Lorenzo Borghese, and More than Me founder, Katie Meyler, A Night of Promise will bring together some of the brightest minds in marketing, charity, and social media.

Givology has partnered with More than Me to help the nonprofit reach its $40,000 goal. With the partnership, Givology is helping to bring community-based development work and the world of marketing and PR together for one amazing night. “We’re incredibly proud to partner with More than Me on this event – the work they are doing in Liberia is truly inspiring and the urgency to create the center for girls never greater,” said Joyce Meng, co-founder of Givology.

A Night of Promise is sponsored by Bacardi Rum, Radeberger Pilsner, and Wodka Vodka. Tickets for the open-bar event can be purchased online before January 28th at www.anightofpromise.com for $50, or at the door for $60. All proceeds will go toward More than Me’s I Promise Project.

More than Me, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was formed in 2009 after Katie Meyler returned from war-torn Liberia determined that one person with enough drive can make a difference. Meyler now speaks to schools and organizations about how to "be the change” they want to see in the world and to raise awareness of education issues in Liberia. The More than Me Foundation operates with paid staff from the community in Liberia, through partnerships with community groups, and with a network of dedicated volunteers around the world.

Liberia has the fourth lowest per capita income in the world and, for most families, survival takes priority over education. Since 2009, More than Me has enrolled 100 girls in school. The girls in More than Me’s program live in West Point, one of the worst parts of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, and their parents cannot afford the fees required to attend school. With an education, the girls in More than Me’s program are less likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases, less likely to have children before age 15, and will have a greater opportunity of earning a good living in the future. However, some of the girls also face commercial and sexual exploitation once school is over, many do not have a safe place to study, and most do not have the support they need to succeed after their first day of school.

The event’s $40,000 goal will go toward the purchase of a safe house in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. Tickets for admission are available for purchase at the event website, www.anightofpromise.com. Marquee is located at 289 10th Avenue, between 26th and 27th, in Manhattan.

A Life With Electricity
For those of us who live in a modern city, turning on a light switch is often overlooked. We don’t even know how to live without electricity. With our heaters, iphones and lights, a life without any electricity seems far from the norm.

A Life Without Electricity
However, the children of the Chazon’s Children’s Center have to live it everyday. Currently, the school has no electricity and cooking is done over a three-stone fire. During times of rain or bad weather, kids are unable to learn because of the dim lighting. Many students also do not have electricity at home, which restrict the students from doing work at home.

When Dr. Virginia Duffy discovered the school on a trip to Kenya, she made a commitment to change the electrical standards of the school. She took initiative to contact AHEAD Energy. Although they donated a pump and turbines to help generate electricity, the school is still in need of rechargeable lights for kids to bring home and LED lights that allow for learning on dim days.


Although prepared and credible teachers allow for a good education, electricity is just as important. The new electricity would improve security at night and result in a huge impact in education.



Please help this project, Light for Learning, by donating. If we can’t imagine living a life without electricity, how can we expect others to do the same?

To donate, Click Here

To learn more, Click Here

Sometimes my friends at my public high school in Southern California joke about missing school to avoid an exam or other unpleasant task. Yet jokes aside, very rarely do we consider being forced to stay at home due to financial issues or extreme tragedy in our personal lives.

After I read the story of Victor Ouma from Kibera in Kenya, I realized how foolish our jokes were about missing school. As much as some students dread waking up to study US History, I recognized how fortunate I was to be accountable to almost nothing besides exploring my intellectual interests.

After the deaths of both his parents and eldest brother, Victor had to take an leave of absence from school in order to support his other siblings as they struggled to feed themselves. Finding the equilibrium between helping his family and advancing his education has been difficult, but Vincent has been able to get by with the help of some scholarships and his own desire to do well. Victor even worked over the holidays to raise enough money for his tuition the following semester. However, Victor's motivation to keep learning and pursuing his ambitions is undying regardless of the status of his tuition funds. Victor is just a normal 16-year-old who loves football, but he is extraordinary and an inspiration to me with his resilience to continue his education in the face of adversity.

With this drive to succeed, Victor writes how he wants to become a lawyer someday, as he articulates in a letter update to his Givology supporters.



To read more about Victor, visit his Givology profile!

Focus on Giving with David Cicero Bevacqua of Neighborhood Bike Works





David is the program director and interim executive director of Neighborhood Bike Works.

The mission of Neighborhood Bike Works is to increase opportunities for urban youth in underserved neighborhoods in greater Philadelphia by offering educational, recreational, and career-building opportunities through bicycling; it also promotes cycling as a healthy, affordable, environment-friendly form of transportation.

David began teaching at NBW in the summer of 2007. He has six years youth work experience, including teaching in the Upward Bound program at Pennsylvania State University and leading youth bicycle repair classes at a community center in Tanzania. David completed the Youth Leadership Development training at United Way’s Center for Youth Development in 2007.

Help the Teachers
For the most part, the focus has been on students: how to fund students’ education, how to inspire students to learn, and how to provide uniforms and tools for students. But this week, I want to put the spot light on teachers. Of course, they should be thanked for their self-less work and ability to inspire kids to set goals beyond their wildest imagination, but teachers need a little help too!


Many schools in Uganda are unable to provide a sufficient education and curriculum for its students due to limited teaching supplies and large student populations. Teachers do not have something as simple as a pencil or a ruler. The lack of funding and infrastructure lead to less than adequate educational results. With less than 25% of students failing that exam needed to proceed onto secondary school, 46% passing in the lower division and only 2% achieving Division 1 ranking. With just a few essential school supplies, teachers can engage students more in the learning process with classroom activities and a more inspirational learning environment.


The Arlington Academy of Hope
The Arlington Academy of Hope has chosen to help alleviate this issue. Partnering with Givology with a new project called Help the Teachers, the Arlington Academy of Hope strives to donate school supplies to 10 underserved schools in rural Uganda. Each school will receive 50 pens, a 12 pack of permanent markers, 40 pieces of poster board, 1 large pack of ruled paper, one bottle of wall glue, a personal lesson planning book and a ruler. In addition to new school supplies, the Arlington Academy of Hope will be hosting Teacher Training Workshops to provide teachers with assistance on how to teach children. It isn’t just about the materials, but how they are teaching as well. With more prepared and well-equipped teachers, the Arlington Academy of Hope strives to impact over 8000 students.

To Donate: Click Here!
To Learn More:Click Here!