When I Grow Up Project--DONATE!

The "When I Grow Up Project" is officially up and running! Well, half way there--working on setting up an an account in Colombia/with my high school so that Colombians can donate (in the end, this is maybe the most important aspect). The ultimate goal is to get more low-income students to attend and graduate from university. I believe 100% in this project. 

I work at Soledad Roman de Nunez, a large, public high school in Cartagena, Colombia. Most of my students come from the lowest socio-economic conditions of extreme poverty. However, despite challenges and temptations (gangs, racism, displacement, malnutrition, violence, and a struggling school system, among others), there are students who rise above these circumstances. They define “inspirational”. Highly intelligent and driven, they will excel in higher education. They want to attend university, not just for personal profit, but also to help their families and communities, confronting issues that they understand and are empowered to change. However, regardless of overcoming so much, many capable students do not even apply to university because the entrance exam fee alone is too expensive. Furthermore, if they do enroll, many will not be able to pay for transportation, new clothes, or lunch in order to save money for school supplies and tuition. In the end, lack of money is what stops them from reaching their "When I Grow Up" dreams, nothing else. The cycle of poverty endures. 

After months of designing the project with teachers, social workers, and university professors, we have partnered with NBC Children's Fund, an NGO started by a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Carolyn Carpenter.

Together, we hope to give these children the opportunity they deserve and to stop the cycle of poverty by funding the following:

1. To offer a preparatory course to help students pass the University of Cartagena entrance exam. (Cost per student: $20)

2. To cover the cost of the entrance exam fee for those students who pass the preparatory course described above. (Cost per student: $50).

3. To finance 75% of the first year’s tuition at the University of Cartagena. (Cost per student: $500).

To donate:
1. Visit NBC Children’s Fund’s website and donate via pal-pal.
http://nbcchildrensfund.org

2. Send a check to NBC Children’s Fund, specifying the “When I Grow Up Project”, to the following address (therefore 3% of donations will not be lost to credit cardcompanies):

NBC Children’s Fund
211 Roslindale Ave. #2
Boston, MA 02131

The goal of the project is to have 20-25 students from my school take the preparatory course and apply to the University of Cartagena in addition to financing 75% of the first year’s tuition for 2-4 students. Only students from the lowest socio-economic classes are eligible. At least 50% of participants will be female and 20% of Afro-Colombian descent.

If sufficient funds are raised and the goals described above are met, additional public high schools in Cartagena where a Peace Corps volunteer is present may also receive funding, therefore incorporating additional students and making an impact throughout the city.

Finally, the “When I Grow Up Project” and all its donations are in honor of my mom, Joan Kuntz. Passion, altruism and determination are traits possessed by Joan and many students at Soledad Roman de Nunez. People with these qualities have the potential for positive impact, whatever their nationality, socio-economic status or culture. Joan exemplifies that taking the risk to be the change she wishes to see in the world can make all the difference in one’s own life and that of others. She embodies the importance of education and, like many students at Soledad Roman de Nunez, is an inspiration to her family, friends, colleagues, and students.

Make sure to check out our video on the NBC Children’s Fund website or on youtube:

http://nbcchildrensfund.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6zkTkr1hlg&feature=youtu.be 

*Make sure to click CC for English subtitles*

Also, if you have facebook, like and join our cause:

http://www.causes.com/causes/808401-when-i-grow-up-project?fb_action_ids=696277053218&fb_action_types=causes:recruit&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map={%22696277053218%22:461230690607258}&action_type_map={%22696277053218%22:%22causes:recruit%22}&action_ref_map=[]

The holiday season in particular is a time to realize how fortunate we are and to give back. Want to give a gift that can truly change a life?—Please donate to the “When I Grow Up Project” and share it with other family and friends.

SPA Grant Proposal Approved!

SPA, or Small Project Assistance, is a grant available to Peace Corps volunteers. Seems pretty simple: come up with an awesome, sustainable project that addresses a community needs, gain community support, write up a grant, present the proposal, and waaala… money in da bank. What’s not to love…?

Well, I tell ya. 

Seventeen pages of Spanish essays and graphs, countless drafts, trying (fairly unsuccessfully) to get people at my school to help me write it, a presentation in front of PC Colombia staff, re-writing essays in English, getting a new bank account, and on and on and on… it wasn’t so simple. Furthermore, being the “guiney-pig” is never easy and as the first volunteer to apply for and receive a SPA grant in Colombia since the program reopened, it has been a learning process for the office staff as well as me, note the extra re-writes/corrections and last minute details or trips to Barranquilla.

But, needless to say, it is FINISHED! Kaput! Chicas Lideres INEDSORistas, a girls empowerment and leadership project in my school/neighborhood, has been going on since May, 2012, but it is about to get a new makeover with the couple thousand dollars we now have thanks to the SPA grant and community contribution. I couldn't be more pumped about the need and potential for a program like this! 

We plan to start next school year, so end of January 2013 with 20-25 girls from 10^th and 11^th grade (the oldest students). We will continue learning about topics regarding sexual, emotional, and physical health every week for two hours. Now, in addition, we will be bring in professionals to talk to the girls about their jobs, thus hopefully opening the girls' minds to career possibilities other than what they know: selling phone minutes on the street, making empanadas, or unemployment, for example. Furthermore, we will bring them to universities and help them to understand the application process and eventually to apply. Finally, the girls will analyze their school and neighborhood’s’ needs and, with our help, design community service projects that they will later and carry-out in the school and outside in their neighborhoods.

On a final note: to end this school year, the girls presented to all of 10^th grade (about 230 students) about HIV/AIDS prevention. It takes guts to put a condom on a dildo in front of all of your classmates, and they did it, not only with confidence, but correctly! I’m so proud. Amazing girls.