Monthly Archives: December 2011

Make a Resolution to Help Sponsor a Girl in 2012!

Make it one of your New Year’s Resolutions to sponsor a girl’s education … you were born with certain opportunities in life that she was not. But you share the same aspiration: to be a first.

HOW YOU CAN HELP IN 2012:

10…donate your birthday! Sloane Berrent raised $5,000 with her 32nd (Sweet Sixteen x 12!) Other have raised $200-$300, which is enough to sponsor a girl in countries like Nepal!

9…buy a bracelet or order cookies to support girls’ sponsorships! (Watch out for a fun new necklace debuting this month, too!)

8…plan to attend the GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert, May 18th!

7…submit a poem to the upcoming She’s the First Poetry Anthology, proceeds of which will sponsor a girl (more info coming this month on shesthefirst.org!)

6…reach out to your company, for in-kind donations, event sponsorship, auction donations, or to ask if they’ll match your contribution to She’s the First.
Email us if you have ideas!

5…spread the word. “Like” us on Facebook and share our posts. Follow us on Twitter and retweet your favorite news!

4…help us find: volunteer web developers & designers, a pro bono printer. These services are in high demand!

3…have a tie-dye cupcake bake sale. The national campaign returns in November!

2…join a She’s the First Committee (Press, Fundraising & Development, Technology in Education) in NYC. Email info@shesthefirst.org to learn more!

1…YOU decide! She’s the First is a platform of creativity…the possibilities for paying it forward are endless.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Leave a comment to tell us which of these resolutions you’ll make!

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What Motivates & Inspires You? These YouTube Videos Will!

Do you ever stay up realllly late, wake up at the crack of dawn, add tons of responsibility onto your shoulders that sometimes weighs you down…but sometimes gives you wings? It’s the lifestyle that I’ve come to know very well this past year. I see the same dedication from my She’s the First, She’s the First*{Campus}, & GIRLS WHO ROCK teammates whenever we gear up for big fundraisers & campaigns. It worked: We sponsored more than 150 girls in 2011!

Why do we work so hard? Well, every once in a while, we see stars twinkle on the social media frontier…aka meaningful YouTube videos created by girls themselves. We are reminded that She’s the First itself started as a YouTube video…and look at it now! I expect the same miraculous growth from these three:

Gabriella created the “It Only Takes a Girl” video for her college admissions application –and it went viral. I emailed her and invited her to guest blog for shesthefirst.org. Here’s what she wrote us:

I am just a girl interested in the health and education of girls and women everywhere. I always have been. But ever since I began applying to colleges (I am a senior in high school), I have really had to take a step back and ask myself a few important questions.

Who am I? What do I want? What am I going to do with my life?

Recently, I realized that what I truly want is for every girl and woman on this planet to have opportunity–the opportunity for good health, a good education, a good job, and a good life.

One scholarship application in particular really challenged me. The instructions were simple: Do something. Something to show us who you are and what you care about. So I made this video.

The movie-making process, from writing the script to uploading the final version onto my website (itonlytakesagirl.org), took me just over a month. I made what felt like a billion cards with the help of my sister Sierra (15) out of poster board and Sharpie. My other sister, Celeste (14), helped me a lot with the filming, and my mom, Jessica, assisted me with setting up and running the website. Almost 50 girls and women, most of which are students, parents, and even a grandparent of my high school, are featured in my video.

I posted the link to my movie on Facebook so my friends and family could see it. But a few people shared it, and their friends shared it, and theirs, and so on, and after only a week, I had gotten over 100,000 views on YouTube! It has been truly humbling and inspiring to see how far and fast it has spread. The internet is truly a powerful thing. But I am just so grateful that my message–and the message of every girl around the globe–is getting out there.

Juie is a 13-year-old in London who found us on Twitter! She made this video:

@shesthefirst Aw Your Welcome I Love She’s the First and when I heard what it was about, I Instantly loved it. Thank You xo

And then there are videos from girls like Grace, a student we sponsor in Tanzania, via AfricAid. Grace emailed us two weeks ago and asked:

i would like to have you views about my digital story. Also i would like to know arethere any other girls in USA who have the same ideas like mine? and if theyare there what are they doing to make sure that they are succeed?

So there you have it. A girl from Lousiana, London, Tanzania. Each so unique, yet their dreams so universal. They live extremely far away from each other, yet share common ground on YouTube.

On the days when we’re navigating through our busy work & volunteer lives, videos like these really do glimmer like stars, and we know we’re going down the right path–for girls’ education.

What do you think after watching these videos? Team She’s the First & I hope you will join us to double the number of girls we can sponsor together in 2012!

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Girls’ Ed Bill in South Sudan, Maternal Health Stats & More

Girls’ Education Bill Drafted in South Sudan
The government of Western Equatoria, one of the states in South Sudan, has recently drafted a bill that intends to promote girls’ and women’s enrollment in school. Supporters of the bill say education must be made a priority for girls and women, which is especially important now as South Sudan develops as an independent nation. Western Equitoria State has the highest number of girls dropping out of school. Under the stipulations of the bill, anyone who prevents a girl from going to school will be sentenced to seven years in prison. Read more about it here.

Maternal Death Risk Higher in Developing Countries
One in seven girls living in a developing nation is out of school and married by the time she is fifteen years old, which is just one of the reasons why ninety-nine percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Read about some of the risk factors and statistics here on maternal health here.

Pakistani Leaders Encourage Female Entrepreneurs
Leaders from Pakistan and India joined together to identify steps to empower and encourage women in South Asia in order to eradicate poverty and illiteracy. Pakistan Minister of Social Welfare Nargis Khan said women can play an important role in developing societies when given economic independence and networking platforms. Read more here.

Report Shows Disparities for Women in Vietnam
A recent UNICEF survey shows that disparities for children and women still exist in Vietnam in the areas of health care, wealth, and economics. Read the press release here.

She’s the First is looking for researchers!
We know it’s not exactly international news, but if you’re reading these news bursts, you’d probably be interested in the position. Check out the details here!

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Want to Join the She’s the First Team? We Need Researchers!

Girls at Starfish One by One in Guatemala giggle together during an art project

As 2012 fast approaches, She’s the First is looking to add a few volunteer researchers to our current team. Researchers are key players in the communication flow between the She’s the First team and our partner organizations working to educate kids on the ground. Think you’ve got what it takes? We’re looking for dynamic Millennials in the NYC area with about 20 hours per month to dedicate to the cause. Check out the job requirements below and let us know why you qualify.

The She’s the First Researchers are responsible for strengthening relationships between partner organizations, the She’s the First Leadership Team, and the public.

Do so by:
• Maintaining strong relationships with assigned partner organizations
• Creating quarterly reports on assigned directory schools
• Publishing engaging and relevant blog posts about partner organizations on a weekly basis
• Notifying the Director of International Operations of leads on new potential directory members

Think you’re perfect for the spot? Email Christen and let her know why.

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Kisa Scholars Publish Book at End of Their School Year

Have you ever wanted to write a children’s book? It is certainly one of my dreams but I am grateful that our Kisa Scholars have had the chance to make a dream like this come true.

I always know that another year is wrapping for the Kisa Scholars when the news of the children’s book arrives. This year, the Kisa Scholars helped write a newly published booked called Sam Learns Some Lessons. The really cool thing about it? They’ve based the content on stories the Kisa girls created during a writing workshop. Not only does the book highlight the girls’ creativity but it also shows its wide audience the true importance behind educating girls and empowering women, not only in Tanzania but all across the globle. The book was published by Dot-to-Dot Children’s Books, and can be purchased here. This marks the second book put out by girls at our partner schools; earlier this year, Starfish One by One in Guatemala also released a children’s book!

We are looking forward to reporting back on how the school year went for all the Kisa Scholars of ours!

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Child Marriage in Yemen, Girls’ Ed in India & More

Child Marriage in Yemen Still Hindering Girls
Yemen is still struggling to reach a cultural turning point where girls under the age of 18 cannot be married off to older men. As girls are pulled from school to be put into marriages, they run the risk of never returning to get a full education and are faced with the rests of reproductive problems as they grow older. Read the story here.

Seats Reserved in Junior College for Girls in India
A recent article from the Times of India reported that thirty percent seats in junior colleges across the state of India are likely to be reserved for girls from the next academic year. This will guarantee girls more job security and admission into college in the future.  Fergusson College principal Ravindrasingh Pardeshi said, “It will encourage more girls to pursue college education. Women get reservation in higher education, and junior college should not be left behind.” Read the story here.

In Order to Learn, First They Must Live
A powerful column written by ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas called “All Those Little Faces,” explores closer the gendercide that is often unexposed in India. Over 50,000 baby girls not given a chance to live each month, Vargas shows us a world where education is a hurdle we can only get to once we’ve given the girls the right to grow up.  Read the column here.

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#CharityTuesday: Follow Your Dreams

This #CharityTuesday, we want to feature aspirations of some of the girls studying with our partner organizations!

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14-Year-Old Pakistani Girl Advocates for Girls’ Ed & More

Nigerian Community Demands Education for Girls
The Nigerian community of Katagum is demanding the government establish a girls secondary school in the region. A spokesman for the community says families are hoping for a local school so their daughters will no longer have to travel long distances to get an education. Read it here.

Fourteen Year Old Emerges as Role Model for Pakistani Girls
When Malala Yusafzai was eleven years old she started blogging against the Taliban in support of girls’ rights. She has been especially outspoken about girls’ education and wants “all the girls to get a higher education to play their role in the society.” Her blogging earned her a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Malala, who is now fourteen, hopes to one day become a  politician and encourage more Pakistani girls to contribute to society. Read Malala’s story here.

Rwanda Fights AIDS with New Education Program
In acknowledgement of World AIDS Day, Rwanda announced that country health officials will fight the spread of AIDS with a new education program. The ambitious plan will implement educational programs into every school in the country over the next three months, promoting abstinence in hopes of preventing HIV/AIDs, warding off unwanted pregnancies and keeping girls in school. Get the story here.

Oprah Winfrey’s South African Girls School See First Graduating Class
Seventy-two girls will be the first to graduate from Oprah Winfrey’s South African secondary school in January. Every member of the class will continue on with their education at universities in either South Africa or the United States. Read more here.

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Boston Gives Back: BFFs Sponsor Girls in South Sudan

Lauren Horn and Sarah Matthews all glammed up for the funraiser

By Sarah Matthews and Lauren Horn

Sarah and Lauren, here! We’re best friends and recent grads in Boston, MA, and we just finished our second annual fundraising party for She’s the First. This year, we held the fundraiser, Boston Gives Back, to raise money to sponsor girls through Project Education Sudan. Between the event and online donations, we’ve already raised over $1,600, sponsoring four girls and more than doubling the funds we raised last year.

Our She’s the First fundraiser party last year raised over $700 to sponsor girls at the Haiti Outreach Project. We used a successful formula: Sarah’s apartment, Trader Joe’s wine and snacks, a step and repeat backdrop, mini (tie-dye!) cupcakes and lots of friends. We did the same things this year, but added some fun twists, enabling us to double what we raised last year.

Drool-worthy mini tie-dyed cupcakes!

We realized that there were a lot of people who wanted to support our cause, but couldn’t actually make it to the event. We decided to set up a Causevox page which linked to the She’s the First paypal so that anyone could donate directly to our event. It only took a few minutes to set up – we added text and links, uploaded a YouTube video of our plea for help and created a background with our event logo (created by our friend Natasha, who’s an amazing graphic designer)! We’ve been using the Causevox page to post on Twitter and Facebook in order to build awareness of the fundraiser and the cause. It’s a great way to extend our reach beyond just our friends and family to others who may be interested in supporting She’s the First.

Raffles were held for amazing prizes from local Boston restaurants and bars

One of the best additions to this year’s event were gift card donations from six local businesses which we raffled off. Some serendipitous tweeting with Naked Pizza Boston led them to ask us if they could help. From then on, we started asking other local businesses for donations via Twitter. This led to six amazing Boston bars and restaurants (including a food truck that was featured on the Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race!), promising lots of Twitter and Facebook love. The raffles were a huge hit at the fundraiser, with many attendees donating at least $20 for two arm-lengths of raffle tickets. It goes to show how useful and powerful social media is for bringing attention to amazing causes!

Want to help us reach our goal of sponsoring five girls? We’re almost there – donate online!

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The Skype Call I’ll Never Forget

Chelsea Tirrell is president of She’s the First*{Hofstra}, which recently raised $600 to sponsor girls in the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off.

On Thursday, December 1st, She’s the First*{Hofstra} had our very first experience Skyping with some of our sponsored girls in India and, simply put, it was amazing.

Chelsea Tirrell leads her campus chapter in a Skype call with Shanti Bhavan girls in India!

As president of our chapter, I wanted to do something special for my members after a semester filled with hard work. When I needed someone to fill in an atrium table slot, someone was there. When I needed meeting attendance to be prompt and plentiful, everyone was there. When I needed to bake over 600 cupcakes, everyone was there. Their passion and dedication hadn’t gone unnoticed and it’s their loyalty to this cause that lead our chapter to such success this year. For that, I knew they needed a reward. They needed a meeting that wasn’t a meeting but rather, an opportunity for them to see what all of their hard work had gone toward. And with that, I reached out to Christen Brandt who connected me with Brianne Riviello. Together, we put together STF*{Hofstra}’s notably awesome Skype chat with India.

We connected with four girls from the Shanti Bhavan school in India with the help of their coordinator, Rahil. Once we got the camera and audio to finally work, we were welcomed by Vijayalakshmi (Viji) in 9th grade, Sujatha in 10th grade, Pratibha in 11th grade and Maheshwari (Mahesh) in 12th grade. I couldn’t tell who was more excited to speak with who, but it was an all around session of smiles and laughs.

We learned that they loved Harry Potter and Twilight, that they played basketball and loved to dance, and that they had dreams – some bigger than our own – that were backed by relentless eyes.

These girls were the first females in their families to get an education and we learned why. Some of their mothers couldn’t afford it while others married young and didn’t have the opportunity. But luckily for these girls, they finally had the chance thanks to She’s the First.

These girls are as real as they’re going to get. They’re curious, smart, passionate, and excited to take on the world that’s ahead of them. To have a part in an organization that helps send such amazing girls to school is a bigger honor than most can say they’ve gained.

Raising money is one thing. But when you get up close and personal, it changes the name of the game. The connection we made is one that I will carry with me for the rest of my involvement with She’s the First. And as for my members? It’s a Skype call that changed their prospective on things. It’s given them a desire to be more involved and a greater appreciation for what we have here and what we can give.

Posted in Hofstra University, Shanti Bhavan | Tagged | 1 Comment