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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 (6)

By Tammy Tibbetts, July 28, 2010 7:37 am

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!”

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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!

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By Tammy Tibbetts, April 18, 2010 9:01 am

On the night of June 10, 2010 in New York City, a diverse group of female singers will make some music to make a change. We’re thrilled to debut the first big fundraiser for She’s the First — a benefit concert called GIRLS WHO ROCK!

A $20 or $50 VIP concert ticket will go toward sponsoring a girl in Tanzania via AfricAid, a brand-new member of the She’s the First network. AfricAid was founded by 25-year-old Ashley Shuyler of Colorado and funds girls’ schools as well as scholarships. Most recently, AfricAid piloted The Kisa Project, an initiative that gives a Tanzanian teen a secondary school scholarship and enrolls her in a two-year leadership training program. The girls take digital storytelling workshops and learn to share their lives with their sponsors through rich, vivid videos. Everyone who attends GIRLS WHO ROCK, which is during Internet Week NY, will be co-sponsors for a girl in The Kisa Project and be able to connect with her via shesthefirst.org throughout the year.

Venue and artists to be confirmed in the next 1-2 weeks. For now, save the date and tweet us, @GirlsWhoRockNY, and build up some buzz with #girlswhorock!

Save the date for GIRLS WHO ROCK, June 10th in NYC!