"Even if a girl cannot shape the predetermined circumstances of her birth, she must now be able to shape a response to her fate. The empowerment of girls through education is the way we move from an old world -- where for centuries your rights have been only what your rulers decreed, your status and wealth what someone else ascribed to you -- to a new world, where even if your grandmothers and mothers were poor, you need not be poor too, and even if you were born without the chance to flourish, your daughters and your daughters' daughters need not be."
-Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; UN Special Envoy for Global Education
Today is International Women's Day, which will be celebrated with a day off in Uganda. You, our SOVCO sponsors, are doing one of the most important things that can be done to help poor women out of poverty: supporting the education of the next generation of women! And just to show you that what you are doing IS working, I want to show you a picture of our girl Babra before sponsorship, and after a year of sponsorship:
Babra is a bright girl, but in the early pictures, she appeared dull and wary. When I visited in the summer, I found that she had a very good report card. When I visited her home, she was working hard in the garden, but she immediately got chairs for us, and then went in the house to change her dress. Her parents were nowhere in sight. I later learned that Babra's father suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome from the war times, and that her home situation was not ideal. This term, with the support of her sponsors, Babra is attending boarding school, where she gets three meals a day and a good education. When I got these pictures, I was struck with the difference in her face.
I sometimes hear the argument that sponsorship of single children is not the most efficient way to change the face of poverty in the world, and that may be true. But for this one child, Babra, or Mercy, or Paska...or any of the 53 children you as a group are sponsoring...this is the most effective and immediate solution I can think of, and I thank all of you for partnering with me in that belief.
"Girl Child Education" is one of SOVCO's top priorities, and we partner with teachers like this one at Kirombe Primary School, who is working tirelessly to improve the academic performance of girls in a world where boys most often dominate the top of the class. She welcomes our partnering with her, so if any of you would like to become involved in this project more directly, let me know.
And, just a reminder that I will be sending out a package of letters and some t-shirts to be given as prizes to the children who get good grades each term (they say, "I'm a SOVCO Star!). I will send that package on March 15, so if you have a letter or picture you would like to include, please send it to me at the address below. Also, if you would like to send something directly to Uganda, the address is:
Opiyo Tonny
PO box 1587
Gulu, Uganda.
Just be aware that Tonny will have to pay a fee to receive packages.
Opiyo Tonny
PO box 1587
Gulu, Uganda.
Just be aware that Tonny will have to pay a fee to receive packages.
Happy Women's Day to all!
Sally
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