Sponsors for School Girls: I need your help!

Everyone keeps asking, "What can I do?" I have been doing some brainstorming and have been trying to come up with projects that I think will be worthwhile and also that will help some of the serious issues that I see happening all around me everyday. I have found that girls need a voice, they need empowered, they need education. So that is where my focus currently is. I have contacted a nearby secondary school (high school) and have asked them to identify girls that are vulnerable. The girls can be vulnerable for many different reasons; they have lost one or both parents, they come from large families, their families do not provide any support for school. What I have also learned is that when a family has boys and girls, they will typically only pay for boys to go to school. They see it as a waste to send girls to school.

Yesterday I met with these vulnerable girls, there were ten present in total. I told them why I had come and I also laid down the ground rules. I am all about tough love, if you know me well none of this will be a surprise to you. I told the girls, if somebody is going to send you money to go to school, you need to be grateful and you need to work. I do not like the culture of dependency that has been created here, and I do not support it. The rules I have are; they must maintain a %90 attendance rate, this includes missing school for funerals and for ill days. They must do 12 hours of community service per term of school (they have three terms of 12 weeks each). If failing a class they must seek extra help in this subject and put in extra study time (I was shocked to learn, not a single girl had passed last semester.). Their grades will be submitted to me at the end of every term and then sent onto their sponsor. They must also attend meetings with me, these meetings will be about grades, education topics important to girls (domestic violence, sex education, cultural practices, relationships), and community service activities. If they fail to do so throughout the term, they will be given one term of probation. During probation term if they are unable to fulfill requirements then sponsorship will be ended. The girls had many questions about these terms, they had a lot of questions about community service activities, I do not think they have ever been asked to give back before or show up and try. I hope I do not have to pull out my mean side and whip some girls into shape! But I am willing to do it, if it means they will get to finish their education.

Ok, the details: basically it costs a little over $12 dollars per month to sponsor a girl. The break down is: $15.85 for the first term of the year, $15.21 for the second term of the year, and $15.21 for the third term of the year. I had also decided an allowance of $10.15 per month is necessary to help the girls buy supplies for school and for basic living such as, uniforms, notebooks, shoes, pens, soap, and some food items. So how this would work is, you would send one term of fees at a time to me, so now this term has already begun, I would need the fees for the term as soon as possible, the cost per term will be $45.66, with the exception of the first term costing $56.45, this will include one extra month (to equal 12 months total) and the extra fees for the first term. I know this will all go smoothly while I am here and I have grilled them on how the money will be handled when I am gone, my worst fear is that somebody within the system will steal this money. There are a ton of great and trustworthy people here, but it is a country full of people living in the poorest situations and they will do what it takes to get ahead. They have assured me that the school account is closely monitored and it is where they receive all of their funding, I have also been assured I will get getting reports even while I am home.

What I want is one person, or several people, to commit to one girl throughout her secondary school education. So the girls that are currently in form 3 will need four semesters of funding total (if they pass each semester) and the girls in form 1 will need 10 terms total of support. I do not want a girl to get through one year and then not be able to return to school. This happened to my neighbor Mary, her parents were divorced and her mother was unable to send her to school so she relied on sponsors, unfortunately they either stopped sending money or that was taken by somebody, she is unsure but was not able to finish her education. She ended up quitting school and very shortly after became pregnant. I do not want these girls to be disappointed! So if you decide to sponsor a girl, you need to do so for her entire schooling, or it is up to you to find another sponsor to take over, you can also let me know if you have an unexpected situation and I will work to find somebody else as well. From the list of girls you are welcome to choose one, if that girl has been picked I will give you another choice. Also if you do not care which girl you sponsor but wish to be apart of the program let me know. If you wish to be apart of this program email me at kendallbeth2010@gmail.com. I hope to find sponsors for all of these girls and give them a brighter future!

Gloria Frank
Age 16
Form 3
Gloria has 2 brother and 2 sisters, she is the oldest sibling. She lives with her mother and siblings near the school, her father died when she was young.
Her favorite subjects are English and biology.
Her least favorite subject is social studies.
Her hobbies are playing netball and football, jogging, and dancing.
She hopes to become a nurse one day.

I want to brag on this girl, she is the only one of the group that understood everything I said and could translate it for everyone, I know she will be who I depend on through this whole process for help!





Mphatso Mojati
Age 17
Form 3
Mphatso is the  oldest of 6, she has one sister and four brothers. She is living in the hostel on campus because she has to travel far from home to attend school.
Her favorite subject is English and agriculture.
Her least favorite subject is Bible knowledge.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, cooking nsima, and reading the Bible.
She hopes to become a teacher one day.

Dorothy Limiton
Age 18
Form 3
Dorothy is the fourth born of six girls. She is from a town far away from the school, she has one other sister in secondary school.
Her favorite subject is physical science.
Her least favorite subject is English.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, jogging, and solving math problems.
She hopes to become a nurse one day.

Ruth Biliat
Age 17
Form 1
She is the baby and has three sisters and two brothers. Her two brothers are also attending secondary school.
Her favorite subjects are English and physical science.
Her least favorite is Bible knowledge.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, jogging, and solving math problems.
She hopes to one day become a police woman.

Pemphere Chimbadzo
Age 16
Form 1
She is the oldest and has three brothers. Her father died when she was young, she is living at home with her mother and siblings.
Her favorite subjects are physical science and English.
Her least favorite is social studies.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, reading the Bible, and dancing.
She hopes to become a nurse one day.

Ruthina Bonga
16 years
Form 1
She is the youngest of seven children. Both of her parents died when she was young, she lives with her older brother, all of her siblings live with other relatives.
Her favorite subjects are math and English.
Her least favorite is history.
Her hobbies include listening to music, playing netball, and jogging.
She hopes to one day become a teacher.

Elita Phiri
Age 16
Form 1
She is the 3rd born of eight children. Her father died when she was young. She lives with her mother and siblings. She has two brothers also in school.
Her favorite subject is English.
Her least favorite is physical science.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, dancing, and cooking.
She hopes to become a nurse one day.

 Faria Pembani
Age 16
Form 1
She is the youngest of four and the only child to go to secondary school. Her father died when she was young. She currently lives with her mother and siblings.
Her favorite subjects are English and physical science.
Her least favorite is history.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, dancing, cooking, and teaching small children.
She hopes to one day become a nurse.

Linda Abasi
Age 14
Form 1
She is the third born of six children. Two of her siblings are currently in secondary school. She lives at home with her parents and all of her siblings.
Her favorite subjects are English and geography.
Her least favorite are Bible knowledge and social studies.
Her hobbies include, playing netball, drawing, dancing, and singing.
She hopes to become a secondary school teacher one day.

Iyweni Flias
Age 15
Form 1
She is the third born of six children, none of her siblings are attending secondary school. She is living on campus in the hostel because he home is far from the school.
Her favorite subjects are English and math.
Her least favorite is Bible knowledge.
Her hobbies include, playing football (soccer for all of us Americans), cooking, jogging, reading the Bible, and solving math problems.









Two students there were absent are: Catherine Alexander, she is in form 3, and Salome Kahinduka, she is in form 1.

And here is the crazy bunch that with your help I will have the pleasure of getting to know and spend lots of time with! It sounds like we will have to do some dancing and jogging, maybe I will try netball too.

If you do not wish to sponsor a girl due to commitment, do not worry! I am working on more opportunities that can be one time give only, sort of things. My next goal is to get the preschool near my house running, they need a kitchen and bathroom built, I need the damn kids to go to school so they have something to do. I can fund the building of the bathroom and kitchen myself and I am trying to scheme something up to get a lot of volunteers to come get it done in one day. But after it is done I may need teaching materials, and paint to spruce the place up! I will keep you updated on this! There is also a school nearby that needs two classrooms built. I am going to investigate the cost and see if fundraising the money is doable. If you ever do wish to give me money to buy things for people/kids in the village or wish to send items please feel free to contact me. They always needs things like soap, toothbrushes, shoes, and clothes. I have not asked for these things, because I struggle with giving out materials on a one time basis, it is not sustainable, and they will want more things to be given all of the time. But it is helpful! I can always have a villager decide who the items should go to and not make it a public event as well! 

As for me, I love you all, but stop sending me things! I will be going home in less than seven months! Speaking of which, I was so graciously loaned the rest of the money needed for my stay by a family that is friends with my family. The amount of support I get is too much to handle sometimes! If you do want to give me personally something you may donate to the "Keep Kendall Semi Sane" fund. Proceeds from this fund will go to me getting out of the village about once per month. I tried to stay home for two months this stretch, but did not make it. It is hard! I had to go to Blantyre to work on my temporary residency permit (do not ask me how this is going unless I have at least three drinks in my system, which is only about once a month! Long story short I am currently still illegal in the country, let's hope I do not go to jail soon!) so I decided to stay one night, stuff my face and have some drinks. It was lovely. I of course have to go back and check on the permit again soon, I think I will also stay one night and stuff my face again, they even have a KFC! It is also good for me to get out every now and then because in the village I will go weeks without having a real conversation with anyone. Most people do not speak English and my Chichewa is not up to conversational standards, plus the culture is so different that we do not really care about the same things or have things in common to talk about. Even speaking to Malawians that live in cities is like a breath of fresh air. The more western culture is just needed for me to feel like I am having a conversation. On the bright side, I do talk to Goose and Martha about a lot of things. They both seem to understand. This is why there is now a "Keep Kendall Semi Sane" fund.

Well I am going to try to finish the last blog I was working on a month ago, go eat pizza, and go pick up my clothes from the tailor. I am not too confident in their skills, we shall see how the dress and swimsuit top look when I pick them up. When he went to measure me he said, "Oh big hips." I just replied, "Yes I am a curvy woman." It will not stop me from eating that pizza.