Notes From Tanzania: On Our Way!

By Wanda Bedard, 60 million girls Foundation President and Founder

After months of planning and then concern about jet fuel shortages, flight cancellations and, oh yeah, war in the Middle East as we travel through Dubai – we’re on our way!

It’s been a dream of mine to bring my family to Africa and share in the beauty of the continent and to meet and get to know the warm, welcoming and resilient people I have met in the past 20 years as I’ve travelled to visit the projects we’ve supported.

I specifically chose Tanzania this time to also honour my dear friend and our 60 million girls colleague, Lesley Stewart. Lesley was a volunteer extraordinaire who I still deeply miss to this day. Her sudden passing four years ago left a gaping hole in our group. Condolences came from everywhere. So, we decided to take that outpouring of love and turn it into what Lesley cared about most: enabling girls to access a quality education.

And thus was created the Lesley H. Stewart scholarship for Masai adolescent girls at MWEDO secondary.

The scholarship covers all costs related to four years of secondary education for six adolescent girls. Beyond school fees, MWEDO offers meals and lodging, health care, mentors and guidance as well.

So, we are here now to meet these six young women as they finish high school. We’ll meet their classmates, teachers, school staff and the founders of MWEDO to congratulate them on overcoming huge life obstacles to complete their high school education and for having such a space as MWEDO.

We hope you’ll follow along for more stories from Tanzania.

NOTE: Wanda’s trip to Tanzania is self-funded. As a volunteer-run organization 99% of donations to 60 million girls go directly to the education projects we support. Wanda makes personal trips to visit communities to better understand the needs and aspirations of the people we serve.