As previously alluded to in an earlier post, the Ismaili Women's Association of Aga Khan in Mwanza, Tanzania decided to make EBLI the recipient of a fundraising drive benefitting girls and young women. This fundraiser was held to recognize and celebrate International Women's Day.

A variety of gifts in-kind were donated to EBLI, including: foodstuff, clothing, textbooks and other learning materials, and mattresses for a children's daycare center. Local media was in attendance, including TV, radio and print, to document and publicize the event (you can view a TV clip below on the EBLI YouTube page).

In particular, EBLI would like to thank Shainool Rashid, Chairperson of the Women's Committee, and Altaf Mansoor, President of Ismaili in Mwanza, Tanzania, for their support and generosity.

Guests continue to visit EBLI! Today the organization was visited by three women from the Ismaili Women's Community of Aga Khan, including chairperson Shainool Rashid. Each year this group runs a fundraiser through their mosque for the benefit of the local community. This year, the fundraiser is being held in conjunction with International Women's Day on 8 March 2016. 

To that end, the Isamili Women's Community of Aga Khan has selected EBLI (along with LULU Project) given its work with girls and young women in the local community to be the recipient of this year's fundraising drive. EBLI is not only proud to be chosen but also incredibly grateful to these women and the community in their mosque who so graciously are fundraising and donating to further inspire and empower vulnerable young women. A heartfelt thank you for your support!

The mission of EBLI is to decrease the number of Tanzanian girls who drop out of secondary school due to pregnancy and increase the capacity of young mothers who do leave school early for employment/self-employment in order to secure a healthy future for themselves and their children. Investing in education and early childhood care is a powerful way to lift these young mothers and their children out of poverty and exclusion, and into a more dignified life and a healthier future.

To that end, EBLI is excited to announce its intent to open and run a secondary education centre on its premises. This new initiative is specifically designed to help young Tanzanian mothers provide a better future for themselves and their children. Key benefits include:

• AFFORDABLE: Our program will boast an annual tuition fee is that is at least 20% cheaper than comparable programs in Mwanza, Tanzania.
• SUPPORTIVE: We will provide onsite daycare and daily snack services for young mothers and their children at no additional cost.
• INNOVATIVE: The combination of an affordable secondary school education program, onsite daycare and daily snack services results in an innovative and comprehensive solution for young Tanzanian mothers and their children.

We intend to open the classroom for study in early 2016, beginning with a batch of 50 young mothers. Each young mother will study for two years and then have the opportunity to sit for the Form IV national examination, and ultimately receive her certificate. This certificate is a gateway to employment and brighter, more dignified future.  2016-2017 will represent the pilot phase for this new project, after which we hope to scale up and receive even more students. 

But we need your help to make all of this happen! EBLI has kicked-off a crowd funding campaign to help raise the necessary funds to open and operate the new secondary education centre. Your donation will help fund start-up costs (teacher salaries, desks, learning materials, recruitment) and sponsor students.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND TO MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY!

It is the challenges of life that test you, shape you and define your character, for they present the opportunity to respond with either anxiety or faith. We choose the latter.

Recently, a gang of armed thieves broke into our computer classroom in the middle of the night and proceeded to steal nearly twenty computers and three generators (which are used to provide our electrical power). While the financial loss is large, the greatest loss is not being able to continue computer literacy training for 100 deserving young mothers each year. But we don't want to let that happen. After all, we see this as an opportunity to rebuild our young mothers computer literacy project, and supply them with even more adequate and capable machines. 

But we need your help!

We are seeking funding to purchase replacement computers and generators for our young mothers project. To minimize costs and help us reach our goal faster, we will purchase locally available machines. Our goal is to purchase twenty computers costing an estimated $200 each and at least two generators costing $500 each. In total, we are aiming to fundraise $5,000 by the end of 2015. 

If you would like to help, please donate to Michael Leen's Ministry Account with Maryknoll Lay Missioners by using this secure online form. Not only is your gift tax-deductible (if you are an American citizen), but also you will enable EBLI to continue its computer literacy project for vulnerable, young mothers here in Tanzania.

Some have already offered to ship computers to us in Tanzania, but due to the cost and unreliability (damage, theft) of shipping, we suggest that a donation to Michael Leen's Ministry Account is the safest and easiest way to ensure our computer classroom is up and running as soon as possible.

Know that EBLI is already taking action to bolster security of its premises to protect future equipment (including a double entryway of iron bar doors), and that no one at EBLI was harmed during the robbery.

Thank you in advance for your support. Everything we do in Tanzania is made possible by the generosity of others, and for it we could not be more grateful. You make the difference!