2010

Happy New Year!

It has been awhile since I have updated so I thought I would give everyone a recap of 2009 and tell you our plans for 2010.

Sister Kwame moved to Rome to take courses on Religious Education. She is having difficulty learning Italian, but she has not given up yet! She hopes to return to the classroom when she returns to Hohoe as she swears that her first love is being with the children.

Sister Kwame is working closely with Fr. Theophilius Ameka who is going to be in charge of Tugbeawo's bookkeeping while she is away. Per usual, he will be sending the receipts and documentation to us. We are grateful to her for keeping the program running and grateful to Fr. Theo for helping out!

I, Elise, moved to DC and live in a gorgeous house with 4 other girls. I could not have asked for better roommates. Being teachers themselves, they understand the stress of being a first-year teacher and offer great coping strategies-- Chardonnay and M&Ms. In addition, they donated $100 to Tugbeawo for my birthday!

Now, you say, if you off galavanting in DC, who is taking care of Tugbeawo? And that is where Gretchen comes in...

Gretchen has stepped up majorly and has taken over fundraising for Tugbeawo. She established a club at Charlotte Catholic and has lined up several fundraisers where she hopes to meet her goal of raising $2,000 this year! We could not do it without her!

Thanks for your continued support and we look forward to a great year for the girls!

Latest Pictures

Sister Kwame paying the tuition fees!

The girls' new uniforms!

The books.

Teachers, staff, and Tugbeawo girls

Head Mistress to the left and Sister Kwame to the right.

Update

Just wanted to give everyone an update on our where-abouts!

The girls have started their second year of school at St. Theresa's and are doing great. They remain focused and are extremely grateful for your generosity for the past few years.

Sister Kwame has moved to Rome where she is studying Religious Education and Cathechism. After her 3 year program, she will be the head of Religious Education for the Catholic schools in Ho and Hohoe. So far, she is struggling to learn the Italian language, but remains grateful for this incredible opportunity!

In addition, I have moved to Washington, DC where I am teaching at a local middle school. There have definitely been plenty of challenges so far, but I'm still optimistic that it will be a great year.

As for the future of Tugbeawo, Sister Kwame and I are in the process of determining the best candidate to replace her as Director. Gretchen has taken over fund raising for the time being and has some great ideas up her sleeve. Keep an eye out for updates from her.

If you ever have any questions or comments about the girls or Sister Kwame or how the money is being spent, please feel free to contact me at anytime at heil.eliset@gmail.com.

$1820

These past few weeks, Tugbeawo has been extremely lucky!!

Alpha Chi Omega, my former sorority, made a HUGE donation of $1,100. In addition, graduation gifts have flooded in. Family and friends have donated a total of $720!!

I'm proud to say that we have officially funded the entire second year of the sholarships!

And.... I graduated!!!

Graduation Gifts

In lieu of graduation gifts, we are asking that you consider making a small donation to Tugbeawo.

Tugbeawo is a non-profit organization that I started my junior year of college after spending a summer in Hohoe, Ghana. Our goal is to provide scholarship money to 20 deserving and motivated girls. Most of the girls who we sponsor are orphans and the opportunity to go to school frees them from having to work as maids or sell items in the market for less than a dollar a day. In addition to improving their daily lives, the scholarships have the potential to drastically change their future and the future of their children. When a woman is educated, it is very likely that she will also value her children's education. Our hope is that we can provide for the girls as long as they would like to stay in school and hopefully encourage them to develop careers.

To date, we have raised over $3,000 and funded the first year of scholarships- including uniforms, books, and all tuition costs. As the girls grow older, the costs are rising, but our commitment is still the same.

For more information on Tugbeawo, pictures of the girls, and information on how to donate, please keep reading the blog!

Donations

Tugbeawo would not be possible without the donations from my sorority, family, and friends!

HOW to donate

Write a check made out to Campus Y. In the description line, write “Tugbeawo”. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

You can mail the check directly to the Campus Y or to Elise Heil.

(Campus Y is the umbrella organization for all clubs dealing with Social Justice issues at UNC. For more information, go to campus-y.unc.edu)

Campus Y

118A Cameron Avenue, YMCA Building

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #5115

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-5115

919.962.2333 (phone)

919.962.6353 (fax)

Elise Heil*

700 Bolinwood Drive, Apt 14E

Chapel Hill, NC 27514

eheil@email.unc.edu

*Preferred so we can keep accurate and up-to-date financial records.

Tugbeawo Class of 2009

Here is the first class of Tugbeawo girls!
Sister Kwame is standing in front. Take note of their beautiful uniforms which were paid for by the scholarship.