During the Fall 2012 semester, I enrolled in a Feminist Theory course to earn credit toward the certificates I was working on at the time. I had no idea the impact that course would have on my life – certainly not that it would land me in Kenya at the Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls (JAMS).
During the course, our professor brought in folks to discuss projects they were working on that were feminist in nature. Teresa Wasonga and Andrew Otieno came in one evening to talk about a school they had started in Kenya, their home. I was so moved by the story that I couldn’t stop thinking/talking about it. I knew I wanted to get involved.
One night, I came up with the idea of teaching the girls memoir, and the resulting writings (with their permission) could be put into a collection and used as a fundraiser for scholarships – the girls could use their own voices to help other girls get an education. I shared this idea with a friend in the course, who shared it with the professor – and next thing I knew, I was talking to Teresa and Andrew about it. During the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to visit the school and teach the curriculum – and that experience is one I will never forget. These girls are the hardest working students I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
All proceeds from Voices of Jane Adeny Memorial School will go directly to the Friends of JAMS scholarship fund. The Kindle version is priced at $9.99; the paperback is priced at $15. If you are interested in helping further, please consider also donating directly to the Friends of Jams scholarship fund.
For more about this experience, see the JAMS category tag.
| Your Donation | Provides: |
| $50 | A year of school supplies for one student (calculator, writing materials, notebooks) |
| $100 | Full set of school uniforms for a student |
| $250 | Solar battery to power a campus building |
| $500 | Textbooks for a student for 4 years |
| $800 | Full Sponsorship for 1 year for one student (tuition, room & board, school supplies, uniforms, books) |
Ami Maxine 