An Incredible 2021 & Matthew Speaking at "TrekTalks"

Echoers!

Happy New Year! I sincerely hope that 2022 is off to as good a start as possible for everybody.
I have some exciting updates!

First of all, 2021 was one of our most successful fundraising years. But it didn't look like it was going to be at first. You saved us.

Admittedly, I was pretty thrown off by changes to my own life through 2021. Struggles in planning and organization meant we were one fundraiser behind by the time Fall of 2021 came along. My hope was to try to close the gap with my 40th birthday fundraiser. And wow...you all really, really came through. Between Facebook and our website donations, you gave 7000 dollars in a single campaign. We've never raised that much at once before. Your generosity means that we are able to cover expenses of the Women in Action Development Project until Fall of 2022 - a whole other graduating class. I spoke to many of you personally of my gratitude for your donations. But let me thank you all again for making 2021 an incredible year for Esther's Echo. I am truly humbled by your generosity.

Secondly, I've been asked to moderate a really cool discussion at an online event that I wanted to invite you to join called TrekTalks!

TrekTalks is a Star Trek themed telethon running all day today, January 15th from 12pm Pacific Time to 7:45pm PT, to support an organization called the Hollywood Food Coalition. As many of you already know, I'm a big space/Star Trek geek. Star Trek depicts a future where humanity has begun to explore the galaxy while working to end poverty, disease, and war on Earth. My whole life I've been inspired by this positive view of the future. In a way, my work with Esther's Echo is to honour that inspiration – trying to make the present a bit more like that future.

Because of my work with Esther's Echo, I was asked to moderate a panel called "Trektivism" which invites several actors from Star Trek to share their own social change initiatives ranging from access to vital medicine to tackling climate change in addition to Hollywood Food. The panel begins at 5:34pm Pacific Time (8:34pm Eastern). I'm REALLY excited about this because I get to hang out with some of my favourite Star Trek actors online and I'll have the opportunity to talk a little about Esther's Echo with the Star Trek fandom – my two worlds in one place!

You can tune in here:

I also wrote about the event in the space news magazine I write for, Universe Today, here:

Thank you all so much again for making 2021 amazing. Here's to 2022!
-Matthew

4000 for 40 Fundraiser for 2021 School Kickoff!

Hello Echoers!

I'm turning 40 this month!

For my 40th birthday, I want to help make the world a better place and I need your help! I'm trying to raise "4000 for 40". We've launched a fundraiser on Facebook that hit 1700 dollars in the first day! Thanks to all of you who have already contributed!

For the last 10 years, we've been supporting my friend Esther Kanu in Sierra Leone who founded her own school for vulnerable women and girls in 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War. I met Esther when working overseas and we've been friends ever since. With your past donations, we've seen over 500 women graduate from the school during this last decade. This is one of the most recent graduation photos from this past Spring!

Graduating class at most recent Spring graduation. (Note that they do class years differently than in North America so their sashes say class of 2019 because that was the year they started not the year they are going to graduate)

We're heading into the Fall 2021 school season and rent is due on the building that is currently housing Esther's school. It's one annual payment which gets the school through another year of operation and frees them up to invest money earned by the school itself, through catering and tailoring contracts, back into school programs. We need to raise 5500USD total. I think we can do it.

Esther speaking at this past Spring's Graduation

If you know me through my other online work, you know that I'm typically posting online about space exploration. But ultimately, THIS is why I love talking about the cosmos so much – the perspective that space exploration brings when looking back at our own world. We all share this planet and its fate. The education of women is key in the fight against climate change, strengthens democracy, and ultimately improves the lives of fellow humans in one of the most difficult places in the world to live. Help me make this planet a bit better on my most recent orbit around the Sun.

Thank you all for your consideration and for your past donations. We are not a large community of donors and so EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU has – and IS – making a tremendous impact in another part of the world.

-Matthew

You can donate using the website donation form:

Donate Today!

Or to our ongoing Facebook Fundraiser:

International Women's Day 2021, 25th Anniversary, and Microfinance

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

Donate Today!

It's Giving Tuesday!

Hello Echoers,

Today is Giving Tuesday and I'm writing in hopes that you'll help me support Esther Kanu and the Women in Action Development Project today. We have two ongoing fundraisers both on our website and on Facebook with donation buttons below. I also recorded a quick video (link below) to talk about our partnership with Esther and why I do what I do. Thank you for considering us today as I know you are being inundated with donation requests. Know that all of your support goes directly to Esther and her staff and students in Sierra Leone. With your help, over 400 students have graduated from Women in Action since 2012 when we founded Esther's Echo. Let's keep going!

-Matthew

Donate for Giving Tuesday!

Giving Tuesday 2020!

Hello Echoers!

I'm writing to let you all know that Esther's Echo is once again a partner for Giving Tuesday Canada this year - part of the wider global Giving Tuesday holiday fundraising campaign.

Here's a description about the campaign from the Giving Tuesday website:

"Giving Tuesday is a global movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Black Friday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” it’s a time when charities, companies and individuals join together and rally for favourite causes. In the same way that retailers take part in Black Friday, the giving community comes together for Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday harnesses the potential of social media and the generosity of people around the world to bring about real change in their communities; it provides a platform for them to encourage the donation of time, resources and talents to address local challenges. It also brings together the collective power of a unique blend of partners - nonprofits, civic organizations, businesses and corporations, as well as families and individuals - to encourage and amplify small acts of kindness. Across Canada and around the world, Giving Tuesday unites communities by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another."

For Giving Tuesday, and into the Holiday Season, we'll be fundraising for Esther Kanu and the Women in Action Development Project - our community partner in Sierra Leone. Our goal is to raise $3,000 which will cover the remainder of the rent on the two Women in Action school locations until September 2021. Our sincerest thanks to all who contributed to the first half of the year's rent AND the supplementary fundraiser we did to cover staff wages. WiA fell behind due to COVID-19 restrictions meaning the schools could not take on clothing, and catering contracts. Without your help, the schools likely would have closed. I know it's a big ask this year to come to you again looking for donations. Please know that the students, Esther and her staff, and of course myself are all so grateful for the additional support you've shown in a difficult time. You've now helped over 400 young women graduate in Sierra Leone. I'll be providing updates on the fundraising process through to the end of the year.

Also be sure to check out our Giving Tuesday profile here.

-Matthew