June 30, 2020
Back to School: KGSS reopens with COVID-19 precautions
“Oh Bibi Harry, they just want to come back to Kitenga!” I’m ‘Bibi Harry’, and a couple of weeks ago, when Sister Faustina (Head of School) and I were finally able to connect via a Whats App call, that is what she shared with me. “They just want to come back”. Today, three months…
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April 16, 2020
Is Covid-19 Coming to Africa? Yes
The simple answer is ‘yes’. The more complex answer is really a question: ‘When Covid-19 comes to Africa, what will be the effect?’. To paint a broad brush for the whole of the continent is to be careless. To make assumptions based on western paradigms, foolish. While this is a story still unfolding, the following…
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March 25, 2020
Together, we can get through this
Friends, You have transformed lives by building and opening the Kitenga Girls Secondary School. In its young life, the school is already facing its second existential crisis, the first being the dorm fire. Together, we made it through the first crisis and ended up stronger and better. Together, we can do it again. This time,…
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February 13, 2020
Catalyzing Human Capital
Catalyzing Human Capital First, the setting. I write this from the veranda at Betsy’s House, in Kitenga, Tanzania—a special place that has become like a second home to me. Three students just stopped by to welcome me back and get me caught up on the news. Sister Berna walks by, with a batch of kittens…
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February 13, 2020
Two. Two. One.
Two. Two. One. For the 2nd year in a row, all of Form Two students at the Kitenga Secondary School for Girls scored in Division One on their National Exams! Considering that less than 20% of Tanzanian girls graduate from secondary school, this is a notable measure of success for this school, for these students….
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November 20, 2019
The Words We Use
I’ve been wanting this to happen for about three years and now suddenly, we’re here. A new website!!! Why didn’t we re-do our site three years ago? Ultimately, too time consuming, too many options to choose from and too much money. Apparently, fate meant us to wait because when it all did click into place this time, the team we had assembled dramatically lessened each of these pressure points. Overall, it was not as painful a process as I had been dreading. Yeah!
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October 9, 2019
Is International Day of the Girl a Gimmick?
Fight for Global Gender Equality Every Day, Not Just Once a Year October 11th of each year has been crowned by the United Nations as the International Day of the Girl. Spoiler alert — it’s a gimmick. It is a ploy by the UN body to grab the world’s attention and direct it towards global…
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September 11, 2019
Just back from Kitenga…
It’s a quiet, rainy, Sunday morning – just the welcoming setting I awaited before jotting down some reflections from my recent Kitenga visit. Trip #22? 23? 24? Somewhere along the line I lost count but have come to realize that in reality, Kitenga, Tanzania has become my “second home”. And as it has happened with…
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November 21, 2018
Educating Girls… Changing Our World
Have your gift make an even great impact! All #GivingTuesday gifts will be matched 1:1 On Tuesday, November 27, 2018, GEC will be kicking off a special #GivingTuesday campaign. Please help us reach our goal of raising $5,000. To make an even greater impact- on #GivingTuesday only- ALL gifts will be matched 1:1 by our…
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November 20, 2018
To My Dearest Friends on Thanksgiving…
“Anne, please, when you get home, tell everyone at GEC how thankful we are. Really! Look what’s here. We are so grateful” Sister Lucy Rukwembe My Dear Friends, I am writing to you as I start my journey home after nearly a month in a remote area in northern Tanzania where a remarkable school for…
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