A Brighter Future for Ghanaian Teenagers

What is your passion? What really gets your heart racing and butterflies stomping in your stomach? It takes courage to chase your dream. Not the kind of courage that roars like a lion, but the quiet confidence at the end of a hard day that whispers “I’ll try again tomorrow.” This is what we love to invest in at Meet Kate! I want to introduce you to two people, who demonstrate just that.

Meet Mavis

Mavis is an intelligent young woman, with a dream of becoming a nurse. When she was young, she saw a neighbour’s child die and vowed to be part of the change to stop needless deaths in her community.

Mavis finished junior high school in 2009. She is now 19 years old. For 4 years, she sold oranges on the streets of her town. Her father has been a single parent since his wife died and with four children to take care of, money simply wasn’t available for Mavis to go to school. Day after day, she would get up in the morning to carry a tray of oranges on her head: walking endlessly in the hot sun, trailing countless streets, making a profit of just 6 pence per sale. To keep a dream alive, believing that one day it would come true is testament to Mavis’s incredible spirit.

At Meet Kate Foundation, we do not see hopelessness and emptiness when we look at Africa. But in each unique, seemingly desolate situation, we see hope, and that is because of people like Mavis! We are privileged to be part of her journey. This scholarship means that she will finish high school in three years and will be on her way to becoming a nurse. She will touch people’s lives in her own small way, and the donations from people like you make that possible.

Meet Romeo

Romeo is now in his second year and when I met him, something different struck me about him: He loves to learn! He has a genuine love for education that goes beyond his visions for employment. He is one of the smartest young men in his community. His test scores for Basic Education Certificate E was one of the highest in his catchment area. He is an endearing young man with a quiet, sweet nature. He wants to be a mathematical physicist, because he likes the idea of combining science and mathematics: his two biggest loves. He is an example of “Meet Kate Goes to School” ‘s vision to allow these young people to follow their dreams. Recently, Romeo made us extra proud when we received his end of year report! Out of the 62 people in his class, he was1^st. Who knows, maybe one day Romeo will be the one who invents a way to convert the growing pile of waste in Africa’s landfill to something that will generate an income for the continent. However, at Meet Kate Foundation, we will be just as happy if he grows up to be a warm, caring man contributing in his own way to his community.  

Mavis is one of four people who got a scholarship from Meet Kate last summer and has started Senior High School. These young people are on their way to a brigher future and we will be by their sides all the way. We have already started preparing in anticipation of the applications that will come pouring in this summer. Have you considered becoming a reccuirng donor? Its an easy way to ensure that we can continue helping and be inspired by young people just like Mavis and Romeo. We can only help them because of your continued support. So on their behalf: Thank You!

Dear followers,

We are so grateful for all you support over this past month. Without you, we wouldn't have made the challenge and secured a place on GlobalGiving UK. But don't take it from us, our scholarship students want to say thank you too! Click here to watch what they have to say.

I still remember when our president first announced the Global Giving Gateway Challenge during our first meeting of the academic year. I remember the look on our treasurer’s face, as he peered at both of us, somewhat worried. £2000 in just one month, could we do it? At that stage, it was difficult to know. But as we started spreading the word, I was pleasantly surprised by people’s generosity. Friendships strengthened as four fellow medical students grouped together to cook their porridge with water everyday as they ‘lived below the poverty line’ to help us in the effort to raise funds. We all got together to dance the night away with our close friends at the Afro-Caribbean society Winter Ball. And we spent the evening in laughter at our charity auction, hosted by two university students who began the evening as acquaintances and ended it joking away as if they had been best friends for years. It was great to see everybody group together for such a good cause. And it is great to finally have something physical to show for our efforts.

Being a newly established branch of the charity, we have been working hard to spread our message and have gradually managed to leave our footprint around the South-Western region of the UK. This footprint may appear small to the outside world as a lot of the work which goes on is behind the scenes. However, I am already well aware of the impact of that footprint and its potential for growth; in less than a year, we have raised enough funds to enable a young Ghanaian to finish their high-school education, and we are working on making it possible for a second person! 

You have already done so much to help us. But do you know that you can make your donation recurring? Something as little as £5 pounds a month could go a long way!

Thank you again for all your support this month. We hope we can continue to count on you.

Warm wishes,

Rebecca

Links:

• Our scholarship students want to say THANK YOU!