| Chronicles of Hope Newsletter
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Friends of PES:
As I am preparing to leave for Sudan on January 20th, I am feeling gratitude and abundance. Your generosity has moved me deeply and made so much possible for the children over these past four years.
Once again, you have opened your hearts and provided the children of our four schools another year of hope and possibility.
Our Journey of Hope 2010 "duo" of Myrna Coleman, RN, MS a nine year Sudan war veteran nurse who worked with IRC, and myself and will be in Sudan until March 5th. Daniel Majok Gai, PES board member, who is not able to join us, is busy completing his undergrad degree at CU Denver in order to graduate in May. Isaac Khor Bher, PES Co-Founder, is also not able to join us this year due to his needing to tend to his residential maintenance position. So this is a first for Mama Carol to go without her boys! I am blessed to have Panther Kelei, our Pagook field coordinator and cousin of Daniel assisting me and learning the ropes. Panther was highlighted in our Nov/Dec newsletter "Inspiring Leadership in the Field". Hopefully he will be able to take the reins as our PES Sudan school site coordinator for all three school sites.
Due to your generosity this year, we will be bringing the gift of a new dormitory for the Ayak Anguei Girls Primary School, 600 book packs filled with panties and "Big Sister" letters from The Women's College, University of Denver and Eaglecrest High, Centennial, along with Nike girls soccer uniforms and balls from Heritage High, Littleton.
Jonglei Hope Academy will be having a dedication opening upon our arrival with a completed kitchen funded by LARABAR; four new classrooms are under construction for Marc Nikkel Primary; the dormitory construction will be under way for Ayak Anguei Girls Primary; and two more classrooms will be under construction for Pagook Secondary. We will be delivering 40 teacher resource radios from our partners, Ears To Our World, school supplies, conducting a half-day teacher training workshop, monitoring & assessing construction, participating in NGO forums in Bor and Juba to hopefully secure some partner contracts with the international NGO's in Sudan, conducting a preliminary feasibility survey for Global Women's Empowerment Fund and assessing healthcare for a possible partner to implement healthcare units for our schools.
All this amazing grace is due to you, our donors. This is a time of transition for Southern Sudan. National elections which have not taken place in over 20 years will be held in April 2010. The Referendum you have been reading about, to determine autonomy for the South or unity with the north, will take place in January 2011.
You, once again, are providing another year of hope and promise to the children, women and people of South Sudan in a very challenging time.
We thank you for your continued support and look forward to updating you on all the projects upon our return in March.
Carol Francis-Rinehart Isaac Khor Bher Co-Founder/Executive Director Co-Founder/Vice President |
GlobalGiving
Congratulations - We Met the Challenge! Our project raised over $4000 from more than 50 donors during the Global Open Challenge. As a result, we have reached the status of "permanent member" of the GlobalGiving community! The GlobalGiving team was amazed by the dedication that our participants had shown. We know that you will continue to be a valuable participant in GlobalGiving's online marketplace for giving! The project is on line and has raised to date $7,225 with a $1,000 match from Global Giving making a total of $8,225!
|
|
Volunteer Spotlight, by Max Zalewski
This quarter's spotlight features Alyssa Om'Iniabohs, Development Director and invaluable volunteer. Alyssa successfully applied for and obtained a grant from the Augustana Foundation in March 2009. The funds will go toward the Ayak Anguei Girl's School in Konbek. We are in the middle of now raising funds to build one more dormitory. These grant monies will outfit the girls' dormitory with bunk beds, a drastic improvement over the classroom dirt floors on which they presently sleep.
At the core of her duties, Alyssa writes grants as well as coordinates PES volunteer and DU intern grant researchers and writers. She also helps scout out prospective fundraising opportunities and works closely with Carol Rinehart, Executive Director, to increase funding for Project Education Sudan's endeavors in Sudan. Alyssa graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Spanish as well as a Certificate in Global Studies. She was accepted into the Fall 2010 MA in International Development Program at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. Her volunteer work with Project Education Sudan has prepared her well for furthering her education in international development.
Alyssa is a world traveler and has spent time in Guatemala, with Engineers Without Borders serving as a Spanish/English interpreter. While she was there she conducted interviews with the villagers and helped install solar power panels. She recently returned from a first time visit to her father's country of Nigeria to celebrate her Nigerian grandmother's 80th birthday. She is especially interested in our focus on education and self-sustainability which she believes are very important catalysts for development. |
 Bobbie Hughes, Editor-in-Chief and Administrative Assistant for Project Education Sudan has been a quiet work-horse keeping up with the daily needs of PES and an invaluable support to our Executive Director; Anna Smith, our Managing Editor, came up with the winning title of our e-Newsletter: Chronicles of Hope; 3rd Biennial Art & Artifacts Event Chair and new PES Board Secretary, Christine Mahree Fowler and Development Director, Alyssa Om'Iniabohs worked diligently to make our Art & Artifact benefit a successful event generating $61,000. They could not have done it without our amazing event committee: Patterson Benero, Alex Orkow & Toni Palmer, Kathy, Tim and Caitlin Bradley, Katy Charles, Joyce Culwell, Denise Eiseman, Lynn Hardcastle, Ann Jesse, Judy Scheig, Lee Ann Huntington and Mary Ann Miro, Jan Baker and our hosts: Dr. Richard and Linda V.G. Kelley. Representing PES educators at the Denver Public Schools Secondary Social Studies Summer Institute this June included Teri Appell, Shanna Hurt, Joyce Culwell and Brooke Breazeale. Caroline Starbird, Chiara Subhas have been busy writing grants; University of Denver interns: Lucy Meliksetian, Ryan Smyth and Claudia Mettelman are busy with grant research, marketing and NGO & Field assessment work; Maya Casagrande, PES past intern now volunteer completed our Field Assessment in the midst of recuperating from foot surgery! Eaglecrest High Teachers headed up by Martha Riley presented PES with a $3,500 check; Fountain Valley School, Hamilton Middle School and the CU Denver TRiO Club raised $1,750 for Pagook Secondary School; and Wellington Middle School raised over $2,000 with their walkathon. Jennifer Dempsey of Salida spearheaded the Salida Stiltathon and PES Walk fundraiser Sept. 12 & 13 which raised $3,000. Hana Toribara, PES Summer Intern, graduated from George Washington High School and is attending Washington University at St. Louis. Katy Snyder & Tom Shovan two of PES' first volunteers have moved and settled in Minneapolis, MN; Katy Evans DU/JKIS graduate left for her Peace Corps Assignment in Niger; Emily Broyles is now with Teach For America where she is also working on her graduate degree, was assigned to Aurora West College Prep Academy for her first teaching assignment. We welcome new PES board member, Mary Shippy, PhD Global Leadership Network/ Grant Partners, LLC.
We thank our many volunteers who make PES what it is...a place of warm hearts busy hands!
If you would like to volunteer or intern for credit, visit our website www.projecteducationsudan.org and fill out and submit the volunteer interest form. |
|
Start Making a Difference Now!
What your donation does for Children in Southern Sudan:
$50-Purchase a uniform & shoes
$75-Purchase a Bunk Bed
$150-Fund a Student for a Year
$200-Pay a Teacher's Salary for a Month
$250-Pay Head Master Salary for a Month
$500-Fund Iron Sheet Roof for One Classroom
$1,000-Buy School supplies for 600 Students for 1 year
$1,500-Fund Ten Students for a Year
$1,800-Pay a Teachers Salary for a Year
$1,800-Purchase a Brick-Making Machine
$2,000-Fund 100 Bags of Cement for 2 Classrooms
Any amount makes a difference in the life of a child in Southern Sudan
| |
|
