UPDATE: MARCH 28, 2024

I returned this week from what I can only describe as a life-changing magical trip to Kenya. Thanks to everyone's generosity, my dream was fulfilled with $50,000+ (equivalent to 90 yrs of paid secondary education) raised for One Girl Can. I was personally able to meet 12 of the students whose education will now be fully covered and to share with them that they no longer have to worry about if they could continue with their studies. Upon learning this news, they were very emotional, in some cases speechless, moved to tears, some even danced out of joy and sang songs to express their heartfelt gratitude for the gift of education YOU all gave them.

The question they kept asking me was WHY? Why do they matter to us? Why them? It took me a few minutes to compose myself to answer what I thought was an unexpected question and share what I thought was implied; because everybody matters. But for these girls whose stories they shared with me, kindness is something they have never experienced let alone from people across the globe who they have never met.

The gratitude, the joy and the love that you see captured in these photos & videos is for YOU, their angels on earth who have given them hope and made them feel that they matter. Those hugs and those smiles you see are for YOU. They asked me to express to you all that the belief you have in them has fuelled them to work harder to showcase their deep gratitude to you and that your belief in them has made them feel important and that they can achieve anything now.

This is the gift you have given to them that I will never forget. I will never forget how you chose to support my dream and that you put your trust in me to make this happen.  While I only met the sponsored students at Ushirika School, there are more students at five other schools that the raised funds also covered their education and who I intend to meet as well on a future trip.

This is just the beginning, I will be back to Kenya and I will continue to share the stories of the students whose lives you have impacted.  Thank you for your generosity, your kindness and for helping me fulfill my purpose of making a positive impact on those who are not always seen or whose voices are not always heard.  You have changed the trajectory of these girls' lives.   

Any new donations will be leveraged to sponsor more students and I will be in touch to share details with you on how you will be able to communicate with your sponsored student.

With deep gratitude,

Michelle

ORIGINAL POST: January 20, 2024

As my 50th birthday approaches this year, I want to be very intentional about directing my energy towards having once in a lifetime experiences and making a positive impact in the lives of others.  I've chosen to celebrate this milestone birthday with a lifelong dream trip to Africa.

During my trip, I’ll be attending Marslider’s graduation, I sponsored her University education through One Girl Can Society, a Canadian non-profit that empowers vulnerable girls in Kenya to overcome extreme poverty and gender inequality through education, training, and mentoring. I'm really excited to have this amazing opportunity to meet Marslider and her family in-person to celebrate her academic achievements together.  *SEE PHOTOS FROM GRADUATION BELOW

 Marslider (featured in photo below)

I will also be visiting Ushirika, One Girl Can's secondary school in Kibera.  Here, sponsored girls receive a secondary education in secure campus conditions.   I will be meeting with the students to talk about leadership, mentorship, and exploring how they are empowered to achieve their goals.

Here’s my DREAM:

Over the next 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday on March 10th, my aspiration is to rally support to sponsor the secondary education of 50 girls at Ushirika*.

Sponsoring a student's complete high school education costs $50 CAD*/month and includes tuition, room and board and One Girl Can's mentorship program.  Or you can make a one-time donation of $600CAD to sponsor a girl for 1 year.  Or you can make a smaller donation of your choice, as every dollar contributed will help us achieve this goal.  *(for US sponsors $50 CAD =$40 USD, $600 CAD = $450US)

 *UPDATE: We also have students at five neighboring schools (Nembu, Masinga, Siakago, Mukumu and Cardinal Otunga) who require sponsorship and we will distribute the sponsorships across the five schools.

I will be sponsoring girls at Ushirika and Nembu, and I hope you may be inspired to join me in whatever way you can.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me make this lifelong dream come true to show that one girl can make a difference with the support of a strong community.

With profound gratitude,

Michelle

MARSLIDER & I MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME AT HER GRADUATION