Comments (1)

By Tammy Tibbetts, August 31, 2010 8:26 pm

The next batch of correspondence from our Kisa Scholars, sponsored by the GIRLS WHO ROCK NY benefit concert, are in! Leave your comments and we’ll circle them back to the girls to read, and they’ll answer any questions you have.

Grace Lyimo

Thanks! To be honest you really make happy when I read your message. On first day of the coming month, we’re going to start our examination and after that we will be having an holly day [holiday] of about one and a half or two months. So on this week I will be very busy, final preparation before having my terminal examination. Hope you will be praying for us so that we will would do
something ” wondering” [wonderful].

To me you have been like sisters and I hope one day we will meet face to face. I can’t imagine how happy will I be to see you my dear sisters. I love you all! I will inform you much about how life goose [goes] and how are things at my home and my community [are], because it have been long time since I left my home and come to school. I hope to hear from you soon! Don’t forget to pray for us!!! All the best. – Grace Lyimo

Elizabeth David

Hi guys
How are you? I hope you are all well, am just a little busy preparing for my terminal exams which will start on Wednesday this week. Thanks a lot guys for sharing some different cultures that you have in the US. That thing about the accent, I hear it in the movies. [We told her that in the US, people from different states sometimes speak a little differently.] We finished working on the book before we left from the internship and it was such an amaizing experience.

Hey guess what! Next week on Thursday we are gonna start our one month holiday. I’m so excited about going home seeing my mother and sisters. I also miss my friends and home cooked food. I will also get a chance to [show] my mom your
pictures. I will be realy happy to see your video [about Peru]! My greetings to all. – Elizabeth David

Happiness Monyo

Hellow there, well I would love to be an economist because I love economics. What I like most in Tanzania are the honey pots found like the national parks, reserves, water bodies and most of all the peaceful environment found in Tanzania…We are in the week of exams, so many people are busy..and we are going to close for the holidays..am so excited that I will see my family after 6months. – Happiness Monyo

[Editor's Note: Some light grammatical edits have been made to original messages for clarity.]

Comments (2)

By Tammy Tibbetts, August 21, 2010 3:03 pm

We received two new messages from Elizabeth David and Grace Lyimo! We sent them all some photos from Peru, and they loved them! Their assignment was to write to us about their culture. Take a look, and leave some words of inspiration or follow-up questions about their life that we can email to them in Tanzania this week.

Elizabeth David

Hi,I was really surprised by the pictures of Peru its so beautiful and
wonderful. Today am gonna tell you about my culture. In my country every tribe has its
own culture.In my tribe which is Sukuma of Mwanza near lake Victoria there
are cultures like women are to bend when greeting or giving something to
elders or men, there are traditional dances in the harvesting seasons where
some men dance with big snakes although nowadays its not common.
Also there are foods like sweet potatoes and cassava. This is mainly in the
village areas so when we go to the village to visit our grandparents we face
those kind of things. Do you guys have any kind of culture in the US?
Pass my love to all and enjoy your trip. – Elizabeth David

Grace Lyimo

Thanks very much for caring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The things you do the always inspire me. Now, I feel like flying to know that
my sponsors have the same interest as me. I wish I could join you to Peru
but!!! real I cant wait for those pictures. I am sorry for being silent for a
while, in our school there is poor connectivity.

Today I would like to tell you about my culture!
I am chagga in tribe,I comes for Kilimanjaro one among the region of
Tanzania. At Kilimanjaro the main economic activity is farming and cultivation
of crops like maize, beans, banana and others. The main food is banana with
meat in our culture we call it “NDIZI”sure I really like this food. The
Kilimanjaro region is the place where there is cold condition,amount of
rainfall, fertile land due to volcanic soil which comes from Kilimanjaro
mountain the highest mountain in Africa. Real I am so proud to be born as a
chagga in tribe course I enjoy the condition of the highest mountain in
Africa and usually go there to meet with my relatives because my family and I
are both live at Dar es salaam.
I am real happy to here from you even though I was silent this shows me that
you truly love me as you young. Thank for your support,am waiting for you
pictures!

ooooh i was about to forget Friday the passed week was the day that we start
our kisa net and we were having 12 students. For us it was like a dream but
now we made it and on Friday we will have another class. this inspire me to
bileav that all our dream will come true one day

pass my greetings to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bye bye!!!!!! – Grace Lyimo

p.s. we didn’t hear from Happiness yet — we’ll find out why and let you know.

Comments (1)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 28, 2010 4:39 pm

Lots to celebrate at She’s the First, including a special birthday today! July 28th is the birthday of Grace Lyimo in Tanzania, one of our Kisa Scholars supported by GIRLS WHO ROCK!

The Kisa Scholars are close to our heart not only because our first benefit concert, GIRLS WHO ROCK NY, sponsored them, but also because we maintain a direct line of communication with them through an online social network on kisaproject.org. Each girl created a video telling us her story in pictures, which we just posted to the blog this morning. Our thanks to those who commented about how inspired you felt after watching them (including singer Lenka!)

Today, July 28th, is Grace's birthday!

When the girls write us, we post their messages here so that you can leave questions and answer theirs in the comments. We cut & paste these comments in our replies to the girls — it means a lot and they recognize your names! So please join us in keeping this cross-cultural exchange and digital storytelling going. Here are the latest notes from Grace and Elizabeth. Your heart can’t help but smile reading them.

Birthday girl Grace writes:

I am thankful to hear from you, I hope to know much about you. For sure you’re my support, I feel like I am special to have you also I feel like I have already complete my dreams. Sure you inspire me to accomplish my dreams and to do more things than what I dream.
THANKS VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
About my birthday don’t worry, cause I have Happiness and Elizabeth and all our KISA family here by my side. I know they will help me on this since we are like one family.
I will try to write every day because we were facing Internet problems but now every thing is cool so don’t worry we will always communicate.
Please let me end here but tomorrow I will try to write more.
bye! enjoy your day!
love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elizabeth David intends to become an international businesswoman!

From Elizabeth David, we received:

Hi guys! I’m so happy that I have heard from you! How’s everything? I’m also happy to have read Katie’s message.
I have never seen something in 3D but I have heard about it on TV. It must be cool right? At the leadership conference something which I found incredible was launching a project. At first I thought that it was almost impossible but with God’s help we made it and launched our ‘teaching ict program’. It boosted up my confidence coz i had to stand in front of many guest to present to them about our project. It was really helpful coz being a leader needs alot of courage.
I know about facebook coz alot of my friends here at school also connect with their other friends through it.
We also learn about listening to others which is also helpful like you have said.In my community there problems like girls being treated inferior something which annoys me so much and which am determined to fight against. Also people have the habit of throwing trash almost anywhere although in town there are dustbins. But I think there aren’t enough dustbins so this is also a problem. I usually tell my friend not to throw bottles or papers just any place and if there’s no dustbin nearby it’s better if they just carry them and dump them at home. What are the problems in your society?and how do you deal with them?
Yes, I do believe that you are my global sisters,and we are united by the passion and courage to make some changes in our societies.
Pass my love to Katie, Cheryl, Chelsea and all the others.

[Editor's Note: Emails have been lightly edited for punctuation and spelling.]

Comments (6)

By Tammy Tibbetts,

Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid and the Kisa Project, on the GIRLS WHO ROCK red carpet

Ashley Shuyler, the founder of AfricAid and its interactive sponsorship program called the Kisa Project, wrote us a detailed progress report on each of the three Tanzanian students we sponsor with profits from GIRLS WHO ROCK in New York City. As we previously blogged, the girls finished a 10-day leadership training summit in July, where they not only learned to launch a business and write a children’s book, but they also created these three videos in which they narrate their lives and dreams!

We proudly present to you each girl’s assessment from Ashley and her digital story — this is your chance to know her better than ever before. Please take a moment to leave a comment back to any or all of the girls, as we will be forwarding them along!

Elizabeth David

“Elizabeth is one of the smartest girls in the group, usually keeping her opinion quiet, but speaking up at critical moments of a discussion, at which point the other girls really pay attention. As you’ll see in her story, she is committed to becoming a businesswoman so that she can prove to men that girls are capable of doing great things as well. She’s also quite the fashionista of the group, and spent a lot of time looking at the photos of you all and commenting on how beautiful everyone is. She truly couldn’t believe that Kat Deluna had performed for her, and she loved watching the video as well and seeing the other performers. She picked up using the computers really quickly and was soon doing Google searches for “Disney movies,” which made me smile. She’s a truly special young lady.”

Grace Lyimo

“I wrote the following about Grace in a dispatch home to friends and family: ‘I wish I could share with you the stories of each of these extraordinarily special young women. But I firmly believe that you’ll be hearing about them in the years ahead – they are determined to make big changes for their families, communities, and nation. One student, Grace, approached me early on in the workshop. Although she was the athlete and jokester of the group, I realized immediately that she had a big vision that she demanded to be taken seriously. She told me that, ever since she was young, she had felt an irresistible need to help orphans and street children – but that her brothers and family had simply laughed at her when she expressed this goal to them. She told me that she had given up hope – both for her dream and for herself – but that everything changed when she was selected for the Kisa Project.  She asked me one evening not long before the end of our time together, “Do you really think I can do it? Can I really help street kids?” When I told her that every person in Kisa was behind her, she revealed that she had already begun making plans to start a small business, through which she would donate a portion of her profits to support street children, and she was beginning to research how to adopt orphans – so that she could adopt two of them in later life. I hugged her with the deepest of admiration.’  You can see that she truly tugged at my hearstrings.  Even though she presents herself as a tough, athletic and cool young lady on the outside (and, by the way, has an unbelievably sophisticated sense of humor), she has the most well-defined and serious vision out of all of our Kisa Scholars, and is absolutely determined to bring it to life.”

Happiness Monyo

“Happiness is quiet and unassuming in a group, but when talking one-on-one with her, she comes to life and is really one of the smartest in the group, right up there with Elizabeth. She is very community-minded and would always be watching out for the group and generously helping her fellow students, even when she, herself, came down with a cold. As you’ll see in her digital story, she’s also quite the artist and has had a challenging childhood. She, along with the others, was so excited to hear about the concert!”

Comments (0)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 25, 2010 8:39 pm

Group shot: Ashley with the Kisa Scholars during her visit to Tanzania in July

Attendees, performers, and donors from our first GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert, June 10 in NYC, won’t want to miss this update!

As you know, your support sponsored Elizabeth, Grace, and Happiness in the Kisa Project, a secondary school educational program AfricAid runs in Tanzania, which also enrolls the girls in computer and leadership training. Our Scholars email us messages at least once a month, and we post them here to the blog for you to comment on, and then we relay those messages back to them. Right here on shesthefirst.org, we are so awed to watch a two-year cross-cultural exchange and digital storytelling project unravel, all from one rockin’ night in New York City.

Kisa Scholars present their Kisanet business plan to a group of 30 parents, teachers, guests, and heads of school.

There are some BIG updates with the Kisa Project that recently came our way from founder Ashley Shuyler! She just returned to Colorado from 10 weeks in Tanzania, where she ran a 10-day leadership summit with the girls. The girls had a challenge: start a sustainable service project or business that they would take back to their school communities. They had to write a business plan, create a budget and a marketing plan, and present all this to 30 parents, teachers, and heads of school. Ashley says the end product was remarkable. The Scholars chose to teach computer classes at a low cost to students and community members who otherwise couldn’t afford to take such a course. Ashley writes:

Their reasoning behind choosing a computer-based project was compelling: they identified that, although they have little capital, they do have an incredible resource in the Kisa-installed computer labs at their partner schools; and, at the same time, their research revealed a great need for increased computer literacy in Tanzania – not only do most jobs now require some familiarity with computers, but additionally, the Tanzanian government recently mandated that all college applications be submitted online, even when most students have never used a computer. I couldn’t have been prouder when, on the final day of the workshop, the students launched their inaugural computer class to a group of street kids and young Maasai women from a local school – all of whom left the class chattering excitedly about their new-found knowledge skills. This, from a group of girls who themselves had never touched a computer before becoming part of Kisa.

We have to say with special pride that in Ashley’s email to AfricAid’s supporters, she singled out one girl’s story from this leadership workshop — and it was Grace, one of our girls! Here’s what she said:

One student, Grace, approached me early on in the workshop. Although she was the athlete and jokester of the group, I realized immediately that she had a big vision that she demanded to be taken seriously. She told me that, ever since she was young, she had felt an irresistible need to help orphans and street children – but that her brothers and family had simply laughed at her when she expressed this goal to them. She told me that she had given up hope – both for her dream and for herself – but that everything changed when she was selected for the Kisa Project.  She asked me one evening not long before the end of our time together, “Do you really think I can do it? Can I really help street kids?” When I told her that every person in Kisa was behind her, she revealed that she had already begun making plans to start a small business, through which she would donate a portion of her profits to support street children, and she was beginning to research how to adopt orphans – so that she could adopt two of them in later life. I hugged her with the deepest of admiration. (If you’re interested, you can watch a digital story created by Grace and her dreams here.)

Ashley also sent us individual feedback on each of our three girls, which we will share with you in an upcoming post this week. Thanks for reading through this lengthy one — but wasn’t every word part of a big, beaming smile on your face now?

* More photos from AfricAid on Facebook *

Comments (2)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 8, 2010 8:08 am

Grace Lyimo -- she's excited to "meet" her co-sponsors from GIRLS WHO ROCK. Leave a message! p.s. her bday is July 28th!

GIRLS WHO ROCK exceeded our expectations as a benefit for She’s the First — we not only raised enough to sponsor Elizabeth David in AfricAid’s Kisa Project, but also Happiness Monyo and Grace Lyimo, who we are proud to introduce you to now! Remember that the wonderful thing about hosting GIRLS WHO ROCK during Internet Week New York was that this sponsorship program is truly Internet-infused. We will receive emails from the girls monthly, and by posting their letters to She’s the First, we enable you to leave comments, which we then forward to them. Please ask questions and share encouragement!

I am very happy to have you, really it so amazing!
I am Grace Lyimo, a student of Arusha Secondary School, form five, taking history, geography and economics. I like singing, dancing, charting, and making new friends who we can share ideas. Really I am very happy to have you and may I pleas know your name? I just know only two of you, who are Ashley and Kat DeLuna. I do like the song of Kat DeLuna very much so I fell like fly to know that she is one among you. Hope we will going to know much about each other. I like you photo very much please send more to us. I have to sign out hope we will communicate later.

[Editor's Note: Minor spelling and grammar edits made. But Grace's words in tact!]

Comments (2)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 5, 2010 9:27 pm

Happiness Monyo, sponsored in AfricAid's Kisa Project, through She's the First -- specifically GIRLS WHO ROCK! Happiness aspires to be an economist.

The profits of GIRLS WHO ROCK, our benefit concert on June 10th — in addition to proceeds from its raffle and $500+ raised on GiveForward.org — allowed us to triple our goal of sending a girl to school in Tanzania. We raised nearly $6,000, enough to enroll three girls in AfricAid’s Kisa Project, which is an Internet-infused sponsorship program, where girls also learn leadership and computer training. They will graduate from secondary school — something 95% of Tanzanian girls currently cannot afford. We’ve been emailing with our first student, Elizabeth David, for the past month, and many of you have interacted with her via comments on this blog.

Now, we begin our exchanges with Happiness! Please leave her comments and questions, and we’ll pass them along.

hello there,
Its me, hope your ok…I am very glad to have you as my sponsors. Your such an inspiring group and its nice to know what you do for your communities and others as well..gr8 work u guys! I hope as time goes by we’ll get to know more of each other…and I might tell you all about whats going on in my society, and any other stuffs you would like to know about…ok, let me tell you a little about me…
I am Happpiness as you all know, I live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania..I live with my mum and brother so its just the three of us..its really fun, am a Christian, I love music, and am passionate about bringing positive changes in my society…thats all about me for now..hope you have a wonderful time and all the best in your daily duties.

[Editor's Note: Email has been edited for capitalization.]

Comments (1)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 4, 2010 3:30 pm

Elizabeth David says she's excited to be part of the Kisa Project because she can "learn how to be a good leader and how to connect with other people and society." She is sponsored by She's the First, from the GIRLS WHO ROCK concert!

On this fantastic Fourth, we received emails from the three girls we sponsor in AfricAid‘s Kisa Project — all thanks to GIRLS WHO ROCK and those of you who donated, attended and performed for the cause! You already know of Elizabeth David, and this week, you will also meet Happiness and Grace, her schoolmates! The founder of AfricAid, Ashley Shuyler, who attended our concert thanks to a flight JetBlue donated, is now in Tanzania with the girls, and she told them all about GIRLS WHO ROCK. Check out Elizabeth’s reaction below, learn a little bit more about her family, and leave her some comments and questions!

Here’s wishing all girls the freedom to learn and pursue their dreams!

It’s so good to hear from you and actually I feel so excited every time I read your messages. I was told about the concert and that Kat DeLuna performed too. I like her a lot, she’s a great singer. I really have to say that I was surprised to see your photo, you girls are so beautiful,you really rock…
I love Disney movies and cartoons a lot so I’m so happy to hear that you like it too. I watched Cinderella, Snow White, Shrek and many others. In short, I love fairy tales. And I love Indian movies a lot.
I havent figured it out yet on what business I will start. I want to plan everything carefully. Sorry for the late reply. I had exams and the electricity was cut off.
Back to my family,we are three girls. My first sis is a high school teacher. She’s 26, her name is Lydia. The sec born is Happiness, but we just call her Happy. She’s 24 and works in an anti-corruption bureau.We are so close and
love each other so much. My mom is a teacher and my dad is a retired police officer, so I guess that’s all about my family.
Tell Chelsea and Cheryl that I said hi and they have beautiful names. Thank all the girls for their support.
Take care..

[Editor's Note: Message edited for spelling and formatting -- but all words are straight from Elizabeth's heart!]

P.S. Did you notice Elizabeth mentioned she is a Kat DeLuna fan?! We had no idea these girls were familiar with her music! Neither did Ashley. She emailed us from the computer lab to say, “When they looked at the pictures you have posted on your Kisa profile, they all went crazy because they know of Kat DeLuna and love her music. They could not BELIEVE that Kat had sung in their honor and for their scholarships, and they were literally shrieking with excitement.” Kat, you go global!! All the way to Tanzania!!

Comments (7)

By Tammy Tibbetts, June 20, 2010 1:32 pm

Elizabeth David sends her GIRLS WHO ROCK/She's the First sponsors a second email message.

To all those who came to GIRLS WHO ROCK, as guests, donors or performers, or contributed online: Don’t forget Elizabeth David is one of the two Kisa Scholars that you sponsored, and she just sent us a new message. Don’t you love how she’s ready to “rock” the world as well?

Please leave a comment, as these email exchanges are part of cross-cultural lessons for us all. We will include your comments in our next reply to Elizabeth. Tell her about your job, your city, or your family — any tidbit!

Thanks a lot for your reply,i love movies so thanks.you really work hard dont you coz i can see that you have a busy schedule.I like eating sausage,fries,rice and mostly i love chocolates,i also love fruits and here in Tanzania there are many fruits.
Actually i do have a special goal and that is being an international business woman,in my country there are few business women but men are the ones which rock in the word of business here.I want to turn things upside down,i want to be an inspirational figure to other Tanzanian and african girls in general.
OK,I gotta go now but next time i will tell you about my family and can you send me your pictures?Bye for now..

• First message from Elizabeth David

Comments (0)

By Maisy Page, June 15, 2010 10:03 pm

My New York adventure began with getting lost on the subway (while making a friend from Senegal), walking down 34th St. in the pouring rain with all of my luggage (and no umbrella) and meeting the fabulous Christen Brandt. Despite looking like a wet rat when I got there, Christen gave me a big hug and we proceeded to grab some food and then stay up all night chatting about life and our ambitions. Besides, who could sleep with Girls Who Rock being the next day!?!

Christen and Maisy in Central Park

Christen and I headed over to Tammy’s place where I finally got to meet her as she was running out the door. A quick hug and we were off to run some last minute Girls Who Rock errands. We got to Santos Party House and started to get things ready with the rest of the She’s the First and Girls Who Rock team.  All of the amazing artists started arriving. You could not have asked for more passionate and talented girls..who definitely rock.  The event was a huge success thank to the passion and dedication of all of the amazing people involved. As a bonus, we had the truly fantastic founder of AfricAid, Ashley Shuyler, with us at the event. We raised enough money to not only send Elizabeth David to school for two years through AfricAid’s Kisa project , but enough so that another girl could join her for those two years.  If you want to help us send a third girl to school you can still donate at www.giveforward.org/girlswhorock2010.

@ the Met

My last day in NYC was spent walking through Central Park with Christen and some of her friends from Pennsylvania that came up for Girls Who Rock, going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then having lunch with Tammy Tibbetts, Ashley Shuyler and Cynthia Hellen. All in all, it was quite a whirlwind but an amazing one shared with so many incredible people. I look forward to my next She’s the First adventure and getting to spend some more time with these crazy amazing girls!