Help America Ferrera build a school in Mali!

Jon and America are going to visit remote areas in Mali in January to learn about Save the Children’s education programs and to help Save the Children raise money to build a school in Mali! During the trip, America will be updating her Facebook page with photos and videos.

Follow her at www.facebook.com/AmericaFerrera and help get this school built!

Photo Credits: Save the Children/Michael Bisceglie

Here is an excerpt of the note America wrote for about the trip. Read the rest of the posting at her Facebook page!

I'm so excited and incredibly lucky to be going to Mali with Save the Children in January - just a few short months!! For those of you who don't know, Mali is located in the northwestern part of Africa. Most of the inhabitants live in the southern region of the country, around the Niger and Senegal rivers. The northern border is the very hot, very inhospitable Sahara Desert. Mali's key industries are mining and agriculture. It is a very beautiful country.

Sadly, however, Mali is also one of the poorest countries in the world; nearly 3 out of 4 people live on less than $2 per day. On average, a child completes only 6 years of schooling. Most kids drop out in 5th grade. Nearly 800,000 school-age kids are out of school; 3 out of 5 are girls.

As a Save the Children Artist for Education, I'm going to Mali to get to know the children and families and to help spread the message that education is essential for all people. But, most importantly, I'm going to help build an actual school... and you can help too!

For the school to be built, we need to raise a minimum of $44,000. The school will be complete with 3 classrooms, a headmaster’s room and bathrooms for both boys and girls. Once we reach our goal and the school has been built, Save the Children will provide the skilled teachers and learning resources the children need to make the most of their education. If we raise less than $44,000 or exceed our goal and raise more than $44,000, the funds will be put to good use to support Save the Children’s education programs in Mali.

Give whatever you can, any amount brings us closer to the goal. Even if you can't give, please pass the message along to your friends and family! That helps, too.

When I arrive, I'll update my page with pictures and later I'll post videos from the trip.

Thanks again for your interest and for helping me with this important project. Every time a child learns, we all benefit. Please help to make a difference in the life of a child in Mali and you'll make a difference in your own life as well.

- America

So, as you can tell, it's an amazing and important cause. Education has such a profound effect on the development of a country's future. Just look at these stats on the effects of education from Save the Children's "State of the World's Mothers 2009" Report.

The Effects of Education:

• When girls go to school and stay in school longer, they have a better chance to grow up healthy, well-nourished, economically empowered and resourceful when it comes to the health and education of their own children.
• Educated girls tend to marry later, have fewer children, healthier pregnancies and safer deliveries.
• Educated mothers are better equipped to provide a positive early learning environment for their young children in the home and to support their children’s educational progress when they go to school.

What a profound and amazing effect we can have! Please visit the cause page and Join America Ferrera to Help Save the Children Build a School in Mali.

Authentic's Community Members visit Save the Children programs in the Navajo Nation

Hi everyone! I just came back from an amazing trip with Save the Children to visit their programs in the Navajo Nation. America Ferrera and I visited Chinle and Many Farms, AZ, and stopped off on the way in Laguna, NM. America is Save the Children’s Education Ambassador, and we were fortunate to visit with children benefiting from StC's home-based and center-based education programs.

What really struck me was the impact StC's work was making in this very challenging environment. Paula Hale, a Save the Children staffer who lives on the reservation and guided us throughout our trip, told us that the unemployment rate on Navajo lands is 56%, and average family income is well below $20,000. Employment opportunities are limited, and due to the vast distances that separate homes from larger towns (we drove over four hours from Albuquerque), it's difficult for residents to work off the reservation.

One of the things that drew me to StC's work was the way they were able to show me how the funds I was donating had a direct effect on children and their communities. The benefit of Save the Children's programs was readily apparent during our visit with Jordan, 2, who lives in a remote Navajo area in AZ, in a one-room house with his parents. Jordan's teacher Karen Spencer visits Jordan and 21 other families twice a month (separated by hours of driving) as part of Save the Children's Early Steps program, working with him on reading, fine and gross motor skills, and guiding his loving parents in ways to help with his development. Jordan is a bright kid who's clearly benefitting from the work Karen does with him and his parents, and it saddens me to think of the many children on Navajo lands and around the world who aren't receiving the same education and support.

What's fantastic about the work StC is doing with Jordan and his family, and so many other families around the world is its extraordinary impact. Consider this information from StC's tenth annual State of the World's Mothers Report, released this week:

“Early childhood care and development is a proven and powerful investment in national well-being and future economic prosperity. Research from around the world shows that investing in quality early learning programs is one of the most effective ways to improve children's success in school, to increase incomes, and to reduce costs to society.... Research by Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman shows that returns on investment in early childhood are greater than investment at any other stage of life.”

Seeing all of this amazing work firsthand really made me present to the impact it has, and the cost of participating. By sponsoring a child for $28 per month, you can make a real difference for the child and their community. And remember, we here at Authentic will match your contribution, causing twice the impact, until we've reached our goal of sponsoring fifty kids.

For more information on our matching program check out this blog entry:

http://authenticm.com/community/stc



Thanks so much to StC's Jane Berliner, Eileen Burke, Paula Hale, Linda Askew, and photographer Joshua Roberts, for making this all possible.