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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.]

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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 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 (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

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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, June 2, 2010 5:42 pm

The best part of our day was receiving a surprise message from Elizabeth David, the first student whom She’s the First will be sponsoring with proceeds from next Thursday’s benefit concert GIRLS WHO ROCK. We’ll be able to support an additional scholar with each $1,000 we raise!

Elizabeth David, our Kisa Scholar, sent us a message today!

We first introduced you to Elizabeth on May 11th here on the blog. We’re so thrilled to continue this dialogue with Elizabeth throughout the year. If you are attending GIRLS WHO ROCK, or donate through our online giving page here, remember that you are her co-sponsor, and that this message is for you! Leave your comments for Elizabeth below and we will send them to her. And don’t forget to buy your ticket for June 10th’s GIRLS WHO ROCK concert if you are in New York City!

hallow,how are things?i am very happy that you are my sponsor.Can you tell about shes the first because i want to know more about it.You already know about my hobbies so maybe i should just tell you about my daily routine.I usually wake up at 5 pm then i go to pray after that i go to bath and then put on my uniform.After that i take breakfast and at 8am we start the lessons in class,at 1pm we finish classes.I will realy be happy to hear from you soon. — Elizabeth David

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By Tammy Tibbetts, May 11, 2010 9:13 am

Proceeds from our June 10 benefit concert — GIRLS WHO ROCK, featuring incredible acts like Kat DeLuna, Shontelle, MoZella, Lenka, Cara Salimando, and Kelli Pyle — will sponsor a girl via AfricAid‘s Kisa Project!

Elizabeth David, Kisa Scholar in Tanzania, will go to school with proceeds from GIRLS WHO ROCK!

Ashley Shuyler, the 25-year-old founder of AfricAid, a member of the She’s the First network, just sent us photos of the Kisa Scholar that GIRLS WHO ROCK will support. This means that everyone who attends GIRLS WHO ROCK is co-sponsor of Elizabeth David! Isn’t she beautiful?! Her love of learning radiates from her smile.

The most exciting aspect of Elizabeth’s sponsorship — besides the fact that it’s made possible by a really fun concert! — is that she will be enrolled in a two-year leadership and computer training course, in addition to secondary school. She’ll learn how to shoot her own video and edit it, to digitally tell the story of her life and community, and send it to us online.

You’ll be reading lots about Elizabeth on the She’s the First blog over the course of the next year. Please feel free to leave her a greeting in the comments!

Be sure to buy your ticket to GIRLS WHO ROCK to become a co-sponsor…and who knows, maybe we can fundraise enough in one night of music to sponsor a second Kisa Scholar!