Happy New Year, from NESEI

Dear NESEI Friends,

May this season be one of peace for you  and your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support of NESEI these past few years.  We're looking forward to a new year of abundance and joy, and wish the same for you, wherever you are!

 

Below is a holiday message and annual update from Co-Director Abraham Awolich.

 

We, the Sudanese people, and the NESEI team wish you Happy Holidays! We hope this letter finds you healthy and well during this season. As part of our commitment to you and our mission, we would like to keep you up to date on NESEI. We have been thriving over the last two years, because of your support! I would like to highlight some key achievements that have been made in the course of the past year:

-In May 2007, we participated in the World Bank Development Marketplace competition. Our project was selected as one of 22 winners out of 3,000 applicants from 65 countries.

-In September 2007, a local VT donor made a substantial gift to support NESEI over the course of the next three years.

-Also in September, Katie Hatch and Robert Lomude started full time on the ground as our field coordinators. They will facilitate the construction of the school as well as the recruitment of staff and students.

-We will open our doors of our first school - the New Sudan School of Health Sciences - in May 2008 in Yei, S. Sudan!

-Last month, NESEI started accepting applications for teachers and staff.

-A Ugandan NGO has donated the services of 5-6 secondary school teachers for a year of service to the school.

NESEI is working with a student at Harvard Graduate School of Education to help with the creation of an effective curriculum for the school.

-This fall, NESEI embarked on its first national speaking tour,  "Sudan: A Future beyond Genocide."  The tour has taken us to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Williams, Bates, and many other universities and colleges around the northeast, creating awareness and raising funds. The tour will continue to other schools in the spring.

NESEI's New Year's Wish List

Having highlighted the key achievements of this year, it is worth noting that these achievements would not have been possible without your support. With these successes, however, come more challenges, and we are looking for your continued support, especially this holiday season.

Our goal between now and May 2008 is to raise $ 180,000 for the school to fully function. Here is just a part of our wish list!

-$ 31,500 for scholarships for 70 girls ($450 per girl, per year).

-$45,000 for our farm and  livestock program.

-$ 40,000 to build 4 dormitories.

-$ 25,000 for the library.

-$35,000 for the computer lab.

Every single dollar or a minute of your time that was donated to NESEI made a difference in 2007. We are eternally grateful for your help and support! Our appreciation would best be expressed by continuing to work hard to get those children to school.

As Sudanese working for NESEI, it only gives us joy and inspiration to have wonderful friends and supporters like you on our side. Our promise to you is to deliver the dreams of NESEI to the people whose lives would be transformed by education and training.

Together, we can,

Abraham Awolich, Co-Director