Hello Echoers!
Happy International Women’s Day! International Women's Day is a “global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.”
Our whole organization and its efforts rest on the achievements of Esther Kanu and the staff and students of the Women in Action Development Project - our partners in providing education opportunities for vulnerable women and girls in Sierra Leone. Now nine years into our partnership with Esther, and because of YOUR achievements, we’ve seen nearly 500 students graduate from the school’s two-year curriculum designed to develop vocational and academic skills. But while we’ve been partnered with Esther for nine years, Esther founded Women in Action herself in 1996 recently celebrating their 25th Anniversary this past Feb 14th!! Congratulations Esther!!
Staff and Students at Women in Action in 2021
I’m playing catchup in this post as well. First off, thank you all again for your donations during Giving Tuesday 2020 both on the website and on Facebook. Because we hit our fundraising goals, we were able to cover another year of operating expenses for Women in Action. You are keeping the doors open. COVID-19 cases in Sierra Leone have been low enough that schools are now reopened and we’re expecting a regular graduation by the end of March! Another class of about 50 students! (Which puts us over 500 total graduates you’ve supported). I will be sure to post graduation photos and videos again this year.
Another cool project has begun to grow from Women in Action as well. About a year ago, we mentioned that Esther’s daughter Samuella was starting a microfinance program for graduates of Women in Action. The project is now launched! This means Women in Action touches the entire life-cycle of a student from child to alumni - an incredible vision from both Esther and Samuella. Presently, we have supported Women in Action Microfinance by providing furniture for their start-up office and I am going to be connecting with Samuella about how Esther’s Echo can further support this new branch of their work in Sierra Leone. Microfinance models provide small loans to help entrepreneurs get their projects off the ground. Through Samuella, Women in Action alumni starting their own businesses will now have access to this resource. More on that to come.
Staff at the Women in Action Microfinance Office
And finally, I recently received this marvelous thank you video from some of the staff and students at Women in Action in response to our 2020 fundraising. They thank “Esther’s Echo” and “Matthew” in the video but ultimately the thanks truly goes to all of you for helping me support Esther and her incredible work overseas. As they say “Thank you, Thank you!”
-Matthew