|
UPDATES!!
2008
~ [July, 2008] RADIO DES FILLES UNIES POUR L’EDUCATION first training is planned for July 14: they’ll learn technical skills as well making radio shows to broadcast. Radio is the media in Mali to join most of the people and will be used as a tool to advocate for sending girls to school and to change mentalities. Later on, Filles Unies will train others girls to duplicate their skills and to extend to other regions of Mali in 2009 to get more success to gain people to our cause.
~ [May, 2008] A dozen 7th and 8th graders at Oakland Mills Middle School in Columbia, MD learned about SGU and made such an impact during the 2007-2008 school year. They collected donations for carnations on Valentine’s Day and planned other fundraising activities resulted in over $300 for our girls’ scholarship program in Mali. These students produced a video about child brides which led to half the school signing their petition against child marriage. It took a month of trying but they finally got a meeting with their congressman and persuaded him to become an official co-sponsor of the International Child Marriage Prevention Act and also Education For All Act.
PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY BRIDGES: Three 7th graders with School Girls Unite led four advocacy sessions for two afterschool clubs sponsored by Community Bridges. These students from Eastern Middle School and Silver Spring International Middle School really connected with the high incidence of child marriage in Mali. At their family picnic, these students organized face painting and raised about $20 and also collected 45 signatures on the anti-child bride petition. One Senegalese girl and two other students who speak French may join SGU and Community Bridges wants to partner with us again next year.
~ [April, 2008] April is always Global Campaign for Education month. This year, Filles Unies met their Ministry of Education –a woman- who was strike by these young ladies: their dynamism and faith is contagious! They also demonstrated in the streets of Bamako with a banner: “An Education of quality for all, end exclusion, now”.
School Girls Unite also attended the Global Campaign for Education Action Day where Shakira was Honorary Chair for Global Campaign Education's Action Week for 2008.
~ [March 8, 2008] On March 8 from 12:30 to 3:30 SGU sponsored a public speaking workshop called INSPIRE! Speak to Motivate on March 8. INSPIRE attracted 45 middle school and high school age girls from 13 public schools and 5 private schools in DC, MD and VA. This SGU workshop was led by Tiffany Romero who works at the U.S. Department of State in the communications office and also has a background in theater. She did a mini-public speaking workshop last November for a few SGUers. This three-hour workshop was held in the high tech lecture hall at Univ of MD Business School in College Park. All participants practiced using information and stories about educating girls in Mali, child marriage, etc. while utilizing different public speaking techniques. Everyone left with skills they can use for any cause or any situation.
~ [March 4, 2008] We've whipped up a powerpoint. It's part of the application for the J-8 summit. We really hope we get it! It's a wonderful chance to actually talk to G-8 leaders about girls' education. See the draft below.
~ [February, 2008] School Girls Unite members filmed and edited a video petition against child marriage in less than 2 weeks: Child Bride Video Petition to share at our meetings with Maryland congressional staff during the International Center for Research in Women’s Action Week on child brides.SGU’s advocacy activities on Capitol Hill resulted in a large photo in the Metro section of the Washington Post as well as a 20-minute interview on Chicago Public Radio with Mira
[Interview]
~ [February 10, 2008] We finished editing! A few hours and it was done. Granted, it was extremely easy to script (our helpful volunteers had about two lines each) and the clips lent themselves to cutting... In my opinion, it is excellent. Thank you Georgia, Joanne and everyone who participated at AEHS. Hope you're ready to get blown away.
~ [February 7, 2008] We've successfully begun our anti-child marriage project. Pilot Week is nearly at an end and editing will commence and conclude soon! Thank you very much Albert Einstein High School, Pilot Week of the Video Petition to End Child Marriage could not have been completed without your cooperation. Loads of students and teachers signed the paper petition and many signed the Video Petition. Watch out Maryland Congressmen and Congresswomen, a snazzy School Girls Unite Video Petition is headed your way.
~ [January, 2008] Bintou Soumaoro, president of Les Filles Unies pour l'Education and other members were guests on l'ORTM, a major television station in Bamako. After their appearance, they received calls from viewers and other organizations that also believe in education for every girl.
2007
~ [November 17, 2007] School Girls Unite and Filles Unies had a one hour video conference call using Skype. We talked mostly about providing tutors for all 70 girls we are sponsoring.
~ [October 7, 2007] Our DVD, "Girls Gone Activist", is still in the final editing stage of the production, but we hope to have it done as soon as possible!
Check out the Photos section for some more quick snippets. Also, we have set up a School Girls Unite section in the search engine Goodsearch, so come support us over there! More info about that on our Join Us section.
~ [October 4, 2007] The 70 students in Mali sponsored by School Girls Unite started school this month. Les Filles Unies pour l’Education went to the 5 villages to bring the school supplies, to pay school fees and meet with teachers, parents and of course their little “sisters”. You can find here the comparison between what a 3rd grader spends for school supplies in the US and in Mali.
FILLES UNIES members with several younger “sisters” in Ouolodo with new backpacks and school supplies.
Several more girls who now attend Sanandje School.
Teachers standing behind several more students sponsored by SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE in the village of Djekouma.
~ [July 19, 2007] Les Filles Unies in Mali received a similar certificate for 2007 GLOBAL YOUTH VOLUNTEERING PRIZE from Innovations in Civic Participation that awarded $500 to School Girls Unite & $500 to Filles Unies.
~ [June 10, 2007 LES FILLES UNIES is proud to report that three of the girls from N’Tjilla school who are sponsored received awards for being the top students in their classes from the Centre d’Animation Pedagogique in Koulikoro.
~ [April 22- 24, 2007] As part of the GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION Action Week, Filles Unies met with the Ministry of Education after marching in the capital city of Mali holding as big banner “Education is a Human Right…Education For All.” School Girls Unite met with legislative aides to Senator Barbara Mikulski, Senator Ben Cardin as well as with Representative Chris Van Hollen and his foreign affairs staff.
~ [April 12, 2007] COMIC RELIEF asked School Girls Unite to participate in this photo op where students cannot get on the school bus because “No G7 (G stand for Group of 7 wealthiest countries) nation is yet giving its fair share of the $9 Billion needed each year to give every child the chance of completing a primary education.”
~ [February 27, 2007] School Girls Unite members made a presentation at the Comparative & International Education Society annual conference about youth-led social change.
Check out our photos section with thumbnails and more pictures! School Girls Unite representatives spoke before the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Montgomery County Commission for Women.
2006
~ In July 2006 some members of School Girls Unite attended an International Girls Summit in Minnesota.
We went to the Global Campaign for Education 2006 in Washington, DC and participated in a hearing with Senator Hillary Clinton. We also met with Senator Barbara Mikulski's staff person to discuss how the UK spends 3 times as money as the United States does on basic education for kids in developing countries.
Take the online Girls International Summit survey: http://www.girlsforum.org/survey.htm
Finally a new, awesome layout up on this site! Here are the makers, (left to right) Joanne, Emily M, and Molara
In our first Board meeting we (mainly the adults) discussed money matters and further developments.
2005
TV CHANNEL 9: films School Girls Unite selling school supplies and Malian merchandise at the Georgetown Flea Market a week before school starts.
NEW MEMBER: Elena has just moved back to the United States from Mali, and here she is with members of our sister chapter, L'Ecole Des Filles Unies. We are glad to welcome Elena into our School Girls Unite chapter!
FOX 5 NEWS COVERAGE: On Wednesday July 6, School Girls Unite got Fox 5 news coverage for our protest which took place in late June. We were selling our school supplies and new Mali merchandise from our sisters in Mali.
SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE ON A LOCAL RADIO STATION: Two of School Girls Unite members were live on the Donnie Simpson show on WPGC 95.5. Also, a member was on Justine Love's show of Community Affairs on WPGC. Way to go SGU!
FIRST EVER PROTEST: School Girls Unite held a protest outside of the White House in late June, protesting America's failure to keep its promise to support Education for All and gender equality in classrooms in Third World Countries
SEND MY FRIEND TO SCHOOL: SGU was part of the Global Campaign for Education 2005. Five years ago, 189 countries made a pledge to change the world. This pledge is called the millennium development goals or MDGs.
SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE EARNS FIRST AWARD: School Girls Unite received the "Women of Tomorrow" award from the Maryland Commission for Women; one of founding members won the Prudential Spirit of Community Service State Maryland Middle School Student 2005 Award; two other members selected for the National Children's Museum Extravalooza Award.
SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE MEMBERS MEET KELLY CLARKSON: Anika and Mira got an award from "Time for Kids" for the article published. One of the perks was meeting singer Kelly Clarkson.
FIRST EVER FUNDRAISER: School Girls Unite had a fundraiser taking place on Superbowl Sunday February 6th from 2-4 pm at the University of Maryland Shady Grove Conference Center. There was a full house, and everyone enjoyed it. The main act was a talented actress, Kate Campbell Stevenson who thought of the whole idea for this benefit fundraiser. All the money we raised (over $5000) went to School Girls Unite (including her act) to help girls in Mali go to school. Other than her one woman performance, Anika, Joanne, Mira, Danielle, Molara, Diamond and Emily M did a skit about girls ed. It was pretty much seven kids acting either snobby or smart, the snobby kids are clueless about the situation in Mali and the smart girls are telling the snobs about it. Everything works out well at the end of the skit, of course. Also there was some guest speakers including the Mali Ambassador Diop and Laura Liswood, the founder of the Council of Women World Leaders. Seven School Girls Unite members did a Rwandan dance of Hope. Lastly, there were two very talented Malian musicians.
Watch SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE in action:
Click here to watch SCHOOL GIRLS UNITE story, which includes:
- FOX 5 TV Story
- MSNBC TV Live Interview
- Event at University of Maryland Conference Center
|
