Support Women's Education in Sierra Leone on International Women's Day

Hey Echoers!

It's International Women's Day! Today, across the globe, IWD celebrates the achievements of women in sciences, politics, and social justice while calling for gender equality. International Women's day has been observed since the early 1900's beginning with marches in New York. The reach of IWD has since crossed borders and boundaries. Esther herself writes me on IWD from Sierra Leone.

Women in Action also hosts a community of young children in their education program

In our support of Esther's school, the Women in Action Development Project, and in recognition of International Women's Day in March, we are extending our donor matching campaign until the end of the month. In February, I promised to personally match any donations that came in as February marked the 20th anniversary of Women in Action's founding. 

This month is particularly important for us. Since December, Esther has been working diligently to relocate Women in Action. The new building has been found and Esther is hoping to secure the space by the start of April. The down payment for year's rent on the loation is $5000USD. With your support and with Esther's own fundraising efforts, we are now up to $3000! We're almost there!

I'm calling on you all to help us secure Esther into her new space. The new building will help us provide her project with new stability as Esther continues to radically change the lives of vulnerable women and girls living in one of the most challenging places in the world to be. 

For more on International Women's Day see this great article by the Telegraph that also talks about today's Google Doodle. 

Support Women in Action Today!

Donation Matching for Women in Action Day: Valentine's Day!

Hello Echoers!

Happy Valentines! February 14th is not only Valentines Day but also marks the founding date of the Women in Action Development Project! It's Women in Action Day!

In the midst of civil conflict, Esther Kanu, our community partner, founded Women in Action to ensure that vulnerable young girls and women had the opportunity to continue their education even in one of the least developed nations in the world, Sierra Leone. Women in Action has now been in operation since 1996 making this year the community organization's 20th anniversary! In total, Esther estimates that the over the 20 year period, Women in Action has graduated over a 1000 students. The organization keeps track of graduates through an alumni association it calls the "Old Girl's Club." I had the opportunity to meet some of these alumni with amazing accomplishments such as founding their own clothing businesses and another who was running a successful internet cafe in the capital of Freetown

Women in Action founded 20 years ago today

Women in Action has struggled over the last few years and we have been making an effort, with your assistance to help. The ebola outbreak in West Africa forced the school to close for a time resulting in a shortfall in their regular fundraising activities and leading to the death of one of the "Old Girls." Women in Action has also been facing increasing rent rates leading to Esther searching for a new location for the school. 

Last week, Esther sent me a photo of the apartment that Women in Action is hoping to relocate to. It's not much to look at now, but I also saw what Esther was able to do with the current location in just a matter of years. Esther, the staff, and students turned the current building from a broken concrete shell in a colourful school with electricity. The wiring was installed by the students themselves following electrical engineering education they received through Women in Action in a partnership with a second engineering-based education project in the country. Unfortunately the increased rents make remaining in that location no longer an option.

Potential new Women in Action location

Our goal now is to facilitate Women in Action's transition to the new location. Rent in Sierra Leone is typically paid on annual basis. For this location, Esther is looking to pay $7,000 USD for the first year. With your help, we raised just under $2,000 USD over the Holiday Season. Thank YOU! But I am really hoping we can close the gap. So, to provide incentive, and in light of Women in Action Day, I will personally be matching any donations that come in for the rest of February. Whatever you donate, I will double. 

To those who have donated already, thank you so very much. Special thanks again to Mulgrave Secondary School here in Vancouver for their "Action for Esther" campaign. I also want to send a special thank you to my friend Ellie Kaiser and her friends and family for the fundraising dinner Ellie hosted to bring in over $450 USD. I met Ellie at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention this past Summer while shooting a space-themed documentary. Ellie learned of Esther's story and organized the dinner for our holiday fundraising campaign.  I was so touched by your efforts, Ellie! Geeks for good causes! 

Esther's Echo fundraiser hosted by Ellie

Once again, Happy Valentine's! Let's show some love overseas for Esther and the Women in Action Development Project!

-Matthew

Women in Action Donation Match Campaign

This Holiday Season, Help us "Tell A Different Story of Africa"

Happy Holidays Fellow Echoers!

Two years ago, my brilliant friend Marcos Moldes, an instructor and diversity educator at Simon Fraser University, showed me an incredible TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie called "The Danger of the Single Story."  (click to play video)  Upon arriving to Europe, Adichie recalls her struggle with being expected to reproduce a single narrative of life in Africa. She was chastised by professors who claimed her writing was not "authentically African" as if narratives that spoke of anything other than African poverty were somehow invalid.

I was guilty of carrying a "single story" when I first arrived in Africa. Still in the midst of my undergraduate degree, I entered Sierra Leone aware of the country's post-conflict history and expecting to find a dis-empowered and impoverished population in need of my help as a Westerner. I now recognize how arrogant my assumptions were. My thinking was constantly challenged while in Sierra Leone. I realized how my view of charity and development was ultimately patronizing. I also came to deeply respect the passion, ingenuity, and incredible resourcefulness of the local people who became my friends and colleagues in our work abroad. Rather than fulfilling the expectation of the single story of Africa, these individuals were working to rebuild their communities far before I - or many other international organizations - ever arrived in Sierra Leone. 

Of all those I met abroad, Esther Kanu served challenge my single-story-thinking most clearly. During the Blood Diamond war that tore Sierra Leone apart, most international organizations left the country. In the midst of the conflict, Esther Kanu founded the Women in Action Development Project, a vocational school which remained open whenever possible in the midst of war. She had no international support at the time and relied on colleagues and friends to serve as teachers supporting those who are most affected by war and poverty: women. 

Esther Kanu while visiting British Columbia, Canada

Esther's story was what I wanted to tell when I returned from Africa; a story of empowerment and hope. Furthermore, I openly share how her efforts humbled me, a would-be rescuer from the West, to recognize the incredible initiatives that were already occurring abroad.  I often tried summarizing this paradigm shift but I lacked the eloquence until seeing Adichie's talk which inspired our slogan: "Telling a Different Story of Africa." 

Today, Esther's challenges are different. There is no longer a war in Sierra Leone, however Women in Action has been battling increasing rent charges from a landlord that took over their building in 2013. In 2014, your donations helped secure the school into 2016, but we know that eventually the project will have to be relocated as a sustainable solution. We are currently helping to raise $7000 which would cover the first year of rent on a new school building. Furthermore, Esther is working to purchase a plot of farmland that she is planning to use as an income generating project for Women in Action in the future. 

Lastly, Esther was recently sponsored to travel to the US. While she was in North America, she mailed us a USB key with photos and videos of the school over the last two years. Often it is difficult for Esther to send new media online from Sierra Leone because of poor internet connections so the mailed USB key is a welcomed opportunity to share more of the amazing work you are helping to support. I have posted some of the new photos on the Esther's Echo Facebook Page as well as some in the post below. 

This Holiday Season, please consider supporting Esther's Echo as we "Tell a Different Story of Africa." Even if a donation is not possible, we appreciate you helping to spread the word and tell the story to friends and through social media. From our team to you and your family, we wish you the Happiest of Holidays!

Sincerely, 

Matthew Cimone, Co-Founder

Donate to the Women in action development project

The new children's program at Women in Action is bringing in boys and girls from the local community so that parents can continue their education and find work during the day. 

Students at Women in Action are trained in a wide variety of skills including tailoring, catering services, health, computer literacy, English, mathematics, and even electrical engineering. 

Staff and Students of Women in Action hold a "Thank you" sign for the Esther's Echo 2014 fundraising campaing

Students in class at the Women in Action Development Project

The beautiful batik and handicrafts created by students at the Women in Action Development Project 

Donate to the Women in Action Development Project

Giving Tuesday!

Hello Echoers!

It's that time of year! Last year we were able to raise nearly $11,000 dollars for Esther's school, the Women in Action Development Project in Sierra Leone. Your generous donations not only helped to keep the school doors open during a conflict with the building's landlord, but you also helped the school weather the storm of the Ebola crisis. 

We have already started our annual fundraising campaign for Esther's Echo. Last week I was invited to speak at Mulgrave Secondary School for their "Action for Esther" campaign. Last year Mulgrave raised $2000 for The Women in Action Development Project, a huge portion of our fundraising goal of approximately $10,000. Last year we hit 11K! and I am confident that we can again this year!

Founder Matt Cimone speaking at Action for Esther hosted at Mulgrave Secondary School

This year, in anticipation of the giving season, we have also launched a page on the #GivingTuesday website where you can donate directly to our cause as we Tell a Different Story of Africa. 

Esther has two goals for her project now. She is hoping to purchase a plot of farmland outside of the city to create an income generating project for the school. She is also hoping to move the school to a new buiding. While prices for the land are still being determined, we know that the annual cost of rent on a new building will be approximately $7000. Not bad for an entire school building. Last year we raised nearly $11,000. With your support, I know that we can hit that number again!

Happy Giving Tuesday! 

International Women's Day

March 8th is the annual celebration of International Women's Day

International Women's Day began in the early 1900's with marches for improved working conditions for women in an industrializing age. What began with a worker's movement in New York City spread around the world from developed to developing countries. Today, thousands of events are held around the world in celebration of IWD through community groups, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions to support the equality and rights of women and girls. This year's theme: Make it Happen: For greater Awareness of Women's Equality. 

My own experience with the global reach of International Women's Day was a greeting from Esther online this morning wishing us a "Happy International Women's Day." This is why I love Esther and am always inspired by her. There she is, carrying a torch that ignited in New York over a hundred years ago, and holding it proudly as she supports vulnerable women and girls in the midst of one of the most underdeveloped regions of the world. I am proud to share her story online as she continues to be a relentless champion of women's rights and education. 

But it's not just Esther's story I am sharing today. Esther has sent me a few bios of students enrolled at the school this year. I will be posting them online; representatives of Esther's school. In the meantime, here is the first. Allow me to introduce Sarah Cole. This is her bio in her own words. She represents one of the students you are supporting by supporting Esther's school, the Women in Action Development Project. Donate Today by clicking the link below. Also be sure to check out the International Women's Day website at www.internationalwomensday.com

THE STORY OF SARAH COLE: 

Program: Nutrition and Food

I came from a family of Nine (9) and I am the eighth (8) child. I lost my father about two years ago and one of my sister also died few month after my father’s death.

However, I want to say that I did not actually benefited much from my biological parents simply because we were many in number so they could not afford to send me to school, and so because of this, I was always at home doing domestic work and I was going around working for people that can afford to pay whatever little amount for my up keep. One day, one of my mother’s friend decided to take me and help me with my school fees. It was not too long that this woman stop to pay my fees because according to her she has her own children and family to take care of, so she ask me to return to my parents. I had to return home again doing nothing.

The only option that was left open for me was to go into love affair with guys that will help me out in my domestic up keep as my parent could not just afford it. In this vein, I became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl who will turn 3 years in August 2014.

However, I have come to realize that such is not life so I decided to join the Women in Action family to gain knowledge in skills training and I am now proud of being part of this wonderful family as they have transform my life completely and they have let me know that I must not only depend on men or anyone else to take care of myself or my child. Since my admission, I have gain a lot as I can now prepare quite a good number of food and have also learn a lot on internal decoration and Arts and Craft work so I want to thank God for Women in Action especially the staffs who have made it possible for me.

I am now planning at the end of my course to be self-reliant by opening my own restaurant and employ my Sisters who are seeking for job.

I therefore want to ask the Government, NGO’s, Donors and all well-wishers to come on-board and help us achieve our goal.    

Donate to the Women in Action Development Project