Letter from the President
Quality Education includes more than you might think...
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Erna and several of the young girls
sponsored by Asante Africa |
As Asante Africa Foundation continues to grow stronger, we are learning what it really means to deliver quality education. We started this foundation in late 2006, committed to working with local partners on what they felt was most important for delivering quality education. We thought we would mostly be providing school fees and uniforms. What we learned is that the need to invest in the physical structure and sanitation of the schools is a bigger part of ensuring quality education than we expected, due to the substandard and in some cases unsanitary learning facilities that are available. We still provide lots of scholarships, text books, desks, and all the other traditional academic support—but we’re also being asked to build a lot of toilets. Obvious jokes aside about the direction our efforts have taken (and we have plenty), we are seeing first hand that building up from basic needs is essential to making sure students come to school, stay in school, and can focus on learning. Our name, Asante Africa Foundation, continues to reflect the gratitude we feel toward our in-country program leaders for helping us focus on what truly meets our goal of providing quality education, not limiting our view to a Western idea of what’s needed.
Our students are also off to a great start in the new school year, despite the stressful turbulence in Kenya in January. We worried about the safety of our students traveling great distances to school, and of our program managers trying to operate in the midst of chaos and skyrocketing costs. Two Board members proceeded with an in-country visit in January, reassured that they could travel safely. Their stories and photos of recently completed projects and Asante Africa scholarship children only begin to convey the remarkable experience of seeing our efforts first hand. We are grateful for our committed volunteer staff who fund their own travel to monitor the projects and the use of funds in-country.
Through your generous donations at the end of 2007, we were able to complete key projects in all three of our focus areas. See the story on "Recent Accomplishments" in this newsletter for more details.
Tremendous Momentum for 2008
Our success has been noticed in the communities we serve. We currently have more than 30 project requests that add up to nearly $500,000 USD. We prioritized these projects on our 2008 roadmap based on our program criteria, which include on site interviews and probability for success. Projects include building a dormitory for a remotely rural and isolated school, adding classrooms at several sites, building a science lab at a secondary school, adding more latrines at 2 schools and providing lots more textbooks, desks and teaching materials, in addition to increasing the number of student scholarships for the 2009 school year.
There’s much to do, and as you’ll see throughout this newsletter, there are many ways to do it. I ask you to consider how you can help – small or large. It might be sponsoring a child, endowing a classroom, or helping a student living in poverty to get a full set of text books. Asante Africa Foundation has planted great seeds of quality education for children in East Africa because of your generosity. Please help us continue to support our growing efforts by making a donation today.
Asante sana!
Erna Grasz
Founder and CEO
Recent Accomplishments
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Students help carry their new desks
to the classroom |
Safer learning environments
for children
A completed classroom, paint, chalk boards, and desks were ready to accommodate the 60+ students on their first day of Standard 8 at Jeremy Academy (Kenya). This was the first year for a Standard 8 class at this school, so a classroom was a necessity.
St. Mary’s Girls Primary School (Kenya) added 10 pit latrine
toilets, where there had been more than 600 girls sharing the existing
10 toilets. Alleviating this overcrowding drastically improves
sanitation, and provides greater dignity and privacy for the 600 young
girls – not to mention simply improving their ability to make it
to class on time!
Ilkurot ( Tanzania) refurbished several classrooms, removing unsafe pot
holes from the floors so the desks would sit level, and completed the
construction of 1 classroom that had been left unfinished for many
months due to lack of funds.
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Headmaster of Ilkurot school in Tanzania
showing off the new text books
provided by Asante Africa Foundation |
Helping Teachers be Better Teachers
Ilkurot (Tanzania) received several hundred text books to get 2008 off to a great start. In Maji Moto (Kenya), our visiting board members delivered dozens children’s books for the Primary School library. The teachers gleefully explored each book, anticipating how they would help them teach English, science, nature and other subjects to their students.
Student Sponsorship
Last year at this time Asante Africa Foundation was excited to enroll 7 children into boarding school. This year, thanks to the generosity of donors like you, we enrolled 48 students into boarding schools in Kenya and Tanzania. This includes a more diverse mix of girls and boys as well as a broader cross section of the school population in need – including students in nursery, primary, and secondary school levels. The nursery school we opened last year in Mto wa Mbu (Tanzania) is also growing. We now pay school fees for 26 orphans here, and for 5 students who have advanced to grade 1 in primary school. WOW, what a difference a year makes!
A First Visit by Board Member Karen Yolton
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| Karen with students |
I’m a writer by trade, so it’s rare that I’m left without words to describe an experience, but finding the right words to sum up my first amazing visit to Africa is a challenge. I expected it to be big, but I could never have anticipated the life-shifting power of being in the presence of the people and work of the Asante Africa Foundation.
I’ve been involved with Asante Africa for over a year, inspired by my friend and fellow Board member Susan Olofson when she returned from her first trip. When Susan asked me to accompany her to Africa in early 2008, I was eager to go. Why not? I’m always up for an adventure – and Asante Africa’s mission and vision had earned a huge place in my heart. So last month I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania to visit our scholarship students, and the schools and communities where we deliver projects.
I saw first-hand how little it takes to change the world by providing access to quality education. I looked into the grateful eyes of parents at Jeremy Academy, where we sponsor two boys, one of them a special education student, and remembered how important it has been to me to educate my own children through any adversity that came up. At Ilkurot Primary School, I basked in the smiles of happy children who have a new classroom and textbooks, remembering all those trips for school supplies that helped my kids do well in school. At Lake Manyara, where sponsorships enable eight students to attend secondary school, I saw the hope and commitment on the faces of teachers, many of whom received sponsorship to finish school themselves, leading the way for the children in their community to improve their lives. Asante Africa Foundation is changing lives—mine included. I’m more committed than ever to continue this rewarding work, and invite you to donate your money or time to be a part of this wonderful experience.
Shoes and Story Books
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| Children receiving their shoes from Antonia |
Much of what we do is about raising money to fund scholarships and construction. But sometimes we have donors who lead a donation campaign straight from the heart. Here are just two examples
Antonia wanted to help other children in the world. As her 4th birthday approached, she and her mom decided to share the gifts she would receive from her family and friends with the children in Kenya. Instead of toys and goodies for herself, Antonia wanted shoes to donate to African children who likely walk barefoot for long distances to school. As the packages of shoes began to arrive, Antonia’s mom wondered if there would be disappointment as her little girl really grasped what she’d given up. That wasn’t the case—Antonia was quite happy to see the shoes piling up. She learned (and taught) a great deal about love that is not self centered. A huge duffle bag of shoes, underwear, coloring books and crayons was delivered to a village in Kenya during our Board member visit, along with a photo book to tell the story of the people who helped from Antonia's point of view.
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Teachers admiring their new library books
in Maji Moto, Kenya |
A California teacher also wanted to share with her fellow teachers around the world—fellow teachers who she knew needed colorful picture books to help them inspire children to learn. She gathered up boxes of library books that were no longer being used in her community, which became a great start for a library in a Primary School in Kenya. As the teachers opened up the bags of books, amidst a room of empty library shelves, they were greatly moved by the generous gift of beautifully illustrated books. The teachers spent hours going through each book, talking about what they could teach with it, which class would benefit most from which books, how much the children will enjoy the stories and pictures. The California teacher’s dream of supporting her fellow teachers certainly came true.
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| Antonia and her shoes |
We can use your help in leading a campaign for gathering books or teaching supplies that we can transport to a school in need. Before you begin, please contact us at info@asanteafrica.org to coordinate current areas of need and our schedule of upcoming visits to Africa.
Why focus on education when there are so many other problems in Africa?
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Charlie Waigi, founder of Jeremy Academy, enjoying a moment
with a student |
Charlie Waigi shared his wise views on this question recently, during our Board members’ visit. Charlie is the founder and Director of Jeremy Academy, a school we support just outside Nairobi, Kenya. He is a Princeton University alumnus who returned to Kenya with his wife Theresia to build Jeremy Academy in 1999. They began by teaching 2 students in their home, and over the years expanded to classes for Kindergarten through 8th grade, plus a special education class. Charlie believes strongly in the value of education in addressing all problems faced by a society. He believes that no matter what poverty, illness, violence or other problems people face, the only long term solution is education. If you educate the average citizen, they will use their enriched minds to collectively find the solutions to all of the other problems. He sees education as the single most distinguishing factor in a society that is flourishing—that the measure of the average citizen’s general knowledge is the best indicator of whether a society will address its problems and take care of itself. That is why the focus on education is so important thing for improving the health, security, and happiness of the people in Africa.
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Sponsored students at Rift Valley
Secondary School, Tanzania, with our in-country program manager Asanathe Oola |
We share Charlie’s belief in the value of education! We also know that the key to long-term success for these children is the quality of their education. As our scholarship students progress to the secondary school level (similar to U.S. high school), we are seeing where educational support in the primary years makes a big difference in their potential success. For example, students who can barely afford to attend primary school are disadvantaged by a lack of tutoring and support in learning English. Since secondary school is taught in English, students who were at the top of their class when Primary classes were taught in Swahili are suddenly struggling just to pass. This is similar to the challenges disadvantaged American children face in high school or upon entering college—families with money are able to better support students’ success with tutors and materials. The Asante Africa Foundation actively looks for and addresses the hidden causes of student struggles and their underlying reasons for success. We aim, to ensure the quality of education, not just the basics of paying tuition. That’s why in the scholarships we provide, we also include the cost of tutors, test preparation, dictionaries, room and board, medical care, etc. as needed.
Featured Volunteer
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| Shirley West, featured volunteer |
Shirley West is a volunteer for all volunteers,coordinating our volunteer recruitment and management program. She is also a member of the the Program Team, helping to review and prioritize project applications. Shirley joined the team in October, 2007.
Shirley had recently lost her adult daughter to illness, and needed to fill the void with something that would occupy her mind and also heal her heart by helping others. As a lifelong volunteer for many causes, she believes that you feel good when you do good, and there’s a great satisfaction to be gained by giving to the world instead of just taking from it. So, from sadness emerged a rewarding experience helping families on the other side of the world.
Shirley’s philosophy is that we all have something we can contribute—for some it’s money, for others it’s time and no amount of either is too small. Even a few hours here and there, testing the waters of volunteering with a small project, can make a meaningful contribution. She would love to hear from you if you would like to join her in volunteering for Asante Africa Foundation, so send her an email at shirley.w@asanteafrica.org, or visit the website to fill out an application at http://asanteafrica.org/howtohelp.html#volunteer.
Our Board sends a huge thank you to Shirley for doing
such a terrific job with our volunteers and program team, and offers
tremendous gratitude for the sweet smile and bright laugh she brings to
every moment we’re with her.
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What We Believe
Every child deserves an education and the opportunity to choose their future, regardless of the latitude or longitude in which they are born. Through education, every child can make their dreams a reality, help their families struggle less, and help their communities become self sustaining.
Our Vision
We envision African communities and families in which the children have the opportunity to receive a QUALITY education to define their futures.
Our Mission
Quality Education will be made available by providing physical infrastructures to create safe places to learn, helping teachers be better teachers through educational resources and materials and sponsoring education for highly motivated and academically gifted children through scholarships.
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Here's what US
dollars can provide:
- $12,000 builds a classroom
- $500 sponsors a student’s tuition, room & board, uniforms, personal items and books to for a full year
- $120 provides porridge for 1 month for 100+ kids
- $90 builds 3 desks/beds/other furniture
- $25 provides a child with 6 books
Asante Africa Foundation is a volunteer-run organization that targets 90% of donations to go to programs in East Africa, with 10% invested in our infrastructure to ensure sustainability.
Our Goals for 2008
- Build a new nursery school and toilets
- Build 3 new Primary School dormitories
- Add 4 classrooms to existing schools
- Provide a noon meal for the nursery school
- Add 20 new latrines to St. Mary’s Primary School
- Complete Class 8 classroom at Jeremy Academy
- Training for at least 2 teachers
- Provide 1,000 text books
- Sponsor more than 70 students and orphans
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How You Can Help...
Donate cash online or by mail
Every penny counts. $4 buys a text book, $30 builds a desk, $20 buys 2 school uniforms, and $500 sponsors a student in boarding school for a whole year. Choose an area for your donation to be used for, or allow us to apply funds to the most urgent need.
In-kind donations are needed, including airline mileage for Foundation staff to oversee projects and for African contacts to come to the US for training. We also need digital cameras to document progress overseas, office equipment and office space. Please call or email us if you can help.
Ask your company about Corporate matching.
Now is the time to ask your Human Resources department how Asante Africa Foundation can be included in their matching donation program, which typically begins late Summer, and continues into the Fall. Let us know how we can support you with information, materials or presentations.
Volunteer with us.
Asante Africa Foundation is completely volunteer operated. If you would like to volunteer please phone or email us to get more information.
Spread the word and generate donations.
Host a group presentation or fundraising event/campaign, forward this newsletter to expand the circle of awareness about our work, talk to your coworkers about ways to contribute. The more people who are interested in the Foundation, the sooner we can provide the desperately needed services to the children and families in the Africa. Please contact us for more ideas. |
1334 Carlton Place
Livermore, California 94550
Phone: 925-292-0245
Fax: 347-296-3642
info@asanteafrica.org
www.asanteafrica.org |
