Reports and other news

THe fundraiser at Cafe Babu was a huge success as far as raising awareness and getting people out. Unfortunately we didn't make as much money as we hoped because we had to split the take a the door 40/60 with the owners of the cafe. We realized that next time we really need to get our venues for free or for a discounted rate. However, Heidi did a fantastic job organizing the entire event with some help from Roxanna Brock, Russell Holcolm and the ever-energetic Patrick (sorry I don't know his last name!)

In other news, Emily Sherman-Davis, the program director for Common Ground Society, Liberia, returned from her assessment trip to the mountainous regions of Liberia. In a few days I will have her report up on the blog. We're very excited that we've actually got a program up and running. Hopefully at our June 26th fundraiser at the Hangar Restaurant in Estes Park--featuring book writer and alpinist Pete Takeda (www.petetakeda.com)--we'll raise the $3000 we need to fund the scholarship for Liberian girls.

The 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Casey Middle School continue to raise funds for our project in Khane. Unfortunately, we are still having problems getting that program up and running. We are working with the CARE Foundation in Pakistan, but we haven't been able to settle on a plan to get things going. It's getting to be really frustrating--not because CARE isn't helpful, but rather because they have limited funds and employees to do the assessment, and they are so far away from the Northern Areas. I wish I could find an organization in the Northern Areas, but after doing a bunch of research and talking with many folks, it just seems that there's a dearth of agencies operating in that region. I'm still communicating with CARE on a regular basis and am hoping to fund a trip for one of their employees.

I've just received all the information from the people who administer the Child Labor Rescue program in Nepal. I am going to put together a grant proposal to raise money for the program, which is currently administered jointly by The Mountain Fund and the Nepali NGO, Empowering Women of Nepal. Scott MacLennan and I are working on putting together a Trek4Good that will bring a group of women to the Mustang region of Nepal to check out the Child Labor Rescue program, meet the girls, and then trek around Annapurna. We are hoping the trip happens in October or November (for more information, visit www.mountainfund.org). I'll post more specific information as we get the program going.

Things we are in great need of right now include: someone to help research grants that would be appropriate for our three programs. We can't actually apply for grants for the Khane project until we get the assessment worked out. However, we can apply for grants for the Liberia and Nepal programs. I desperately need someone to help me find donors, sponsors and or grants that apply. This is Girls Education International's greatest need right now.