cross-cultural children's book by our friends at AfricAid & the Kisa Project
It’s been a while since most of us have read a children’s book — but you never outgrow them, right? And we all know a young reader we could then gift the book to…so check out Somebody Like Me, the new book published by the 26-year-old Founder & Executive Director of AfricAid, Ashley Shuyler! She co-wrote it with Prisca Lesakire, a young Tanzanian woman who aspires to be a teacher, and teamed up with illustrator Lori Discoe.
She’s the First met Ashley this June, when she flew out to NYC (thanks to JetBlue’s generous donation) for our first-ever GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert. GIRLS WHO ROCK sponsored three girls — Elizabeth, Happiness, and Grace — in AfricAid’s tech-savvy Kisa Project sponsorship program in Tanzania. The girls receive leadership and computer training in addition to their academic studies, so we correspond regularly with them on email (and then post their messages to the blog so you can comment back!).
Somebody Like Me is based on the true story of Ashley and Priscila, two young women who grew up on different continents, in different cultures. When chance brought them together, they changed each other’s lives. (It was due to a trip to Tanzania at age 11 that Ashley founded AfricAid, a nonprofit organization with the mission of supporting girls’ education in Tanzania. Prisca was one of the organization’s first scholarship recipients, and the two girls became acquainted with each other through the letters they wrote back and forth for years. They soon realized through their long-distance interactions how much they shared on a human level, despite their cultural differences.)
The book is only $12.50, plus $2 for shipping, and a portion of the proceeds will be used to support AfricAid’s efforts to provide education to Tanzanian girls. Co-author Prisca Lesakire’s portion will help to support her efforts to become the first female teacher in her village. Add it to your holiday shopping list!
Visit the other partners in our global directory here. We are so proud to work with AfricAid to reach Tanzanian girls!
