June 10, 2010 It’s ironic.
As schools let out for summer and kids in the US fist-pump with glee that they’re OUT, there are young girls in Africa doing the same thing when they find out they’ve gotten IN to school via scholarship or fundraising to pursue an education.
She’s the First.org is all about breaking barriers in developing nations to be ‘the first’ to achieve their goals and triumph over circumstance to rock their dreams…so what better way to fund these girls than to host a Girls Who Rock concert tonight in New York City!
This energy-packed, youth-driven amped up crew of volunteers is bustling around to pull off a mega concert to help send girls to school in Tanzania, where 95% of girls DO NOT graduate high school because it’s not free. In a classic nod to the world changing media message of The Girl Effect, this is literally girls helping girls in real time, making change tonight, and you can be a part of it!
Live-streamed, in person, via donor dollars or social media, YOU have the opportunity to rock their world…Right here, right now. Here’s 25 year old Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid (video after the jump) with more about her She’s The First partnership to bring education to these worthy girls…
Shaping Youth will be doing a full feature on She’s The First interviewing founder Tammy Tibbetts post-concert, as this is a passion of my own, and happens to be one of our core focus points at GWLN Global Women’s Leadership Network, where I personally am mentoring a similar project with GWLN Women Leaders for the World Class of 2009 delegate Hendrina Doroba in Zambia, who is dedicated to training teachers to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and expose girls to higher learning.
Girls Who Rock (& the guys who support them) believe:
*Music makes a difference. A beautiful singing voice is a platform for entertainment and also education.
*We can do a lot if we all give just a little.
*The Internet, especially social media (tweet us @GirlsWhoRockNY), is the ultimate medium for changing the world and connecting cultures.
*Education can solve the world’s problems.
*It’s important to give back. Thanks to our education, we made it to New York City to live our dreams, and here’s the chance to give another girl the opportunity to achieve hers.
Ready to “be the first” in your crew to rock for AfricAid?
TONIGHT, make a difference and check out performers like Lenka (you might remember her music from Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy? She was also named VH1’s “You Oughta Know Artist”)…Other performers include:
Kat DeLuna, MoZella, Shontelle, Lara Salimando, Kelly Pyle, and Vita Chambers, who happens to be turning 17 the same day (happy b-day is inevitable at the concert, ladies!)
You can get to know the performers better by reading YouSingIwrite.com’s interviews, and listening to the playlist on the She’s the First blog…and of course, it will be livestreamed, so you don’t have to be there.
More to come on this important cause…Meanwhile, I’ll “be the first” to wish them well, tweet this post, and applaud wildly when they rock NY…hope to hear you all the way on the west coast.
Congrats on this fete (and feat!) Rock on!
Related Posts on Shaping Youth
Playing For Change: A Music Movement That Stirs the Soul
Narada Michael Walden: Uplifting the Heart Through Music
Girls Rock (The Movie) “Banding” Together Across the Country
Worldchangers: Women Wired to Make A Difference
Women Leaders for the World Selects Shaping Youth (GWLN)
The Girl Effect: A World Changing Media Message
Bridging Generational Divides Through Music & Media
Global Women’s Leadership Network Hosts Young Leaders Worldwide
Rock & Roll Camp for Girls: Tween Talent Hits the Virtual Stage
Seven Sensational Blogs About Girls/Making Change
Girls For A Change: Carrie Ellett & Amy Jussel on Worldchanging
Growing Up Girl: Girlchild Press & a Manifesta
Ideas For World-Changing: Go Overboard!
All Things Girl Media Musts from Shaping Youth
Interview with Shaping Youth Founder Amy Jussel on The Girl Revolution
(Part One) and (Part Two)
Benefit Model: Live Earth: 7 Countries of Concerts on 7-7-07
AfricAid, a member of the She’s the First network, is the beneficiary of the first GIRLS WHO ROCK concert. This nonprofit organization supports girls’ education in Africa to provide young women with the opportunity to transform their own lives and the futures of their communities. Ashley Shuyler, now 25, founded AfricAid in 2001, after having visited Tanzania as a girl in 1996 with her parents. She recently launched The Kisa Project, a new AfricAid initiative that provides secondary school scholarships and leadership training to some of Tanzania’s brightest young women. The program has already attracted the support of Greg Mortenson, author of the #1 New York Times best-seller Three Cups of Tea, which was about building girls’ schools in the most remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is one of the most respected humanitarians in the field of girls’ education, and She’s the First is proud to support The Kisa Project along with him.
The Kisa Project is a new AfricAid initiative that will provide school scholarships and leadership training to some of Africa’s brightest young women. Through sponsorships provided by American individuals, families and groups, these young women will be able to complete their secondary school education, while also participating in a formal, two-year leadership training program. Upon graduation, these “Kisa Scholars” will then return to their home communities to implement vital community projects and provide life-skills mentoring to groups of other young women, thus helping to create the next generation of leaders across Africa.
She’s the First promotes the importance of educating girls, especially in the developing world. We sponsor girls around the globe by encouraging young women to unlock the power of their social networks and creatively fundraise, giving underprivileged girls the means to break barriers and become the “first” to achieve their special goals. Visit shesthefirst.org to watch our debut PSA with singer JoJo and access our directory of vetted international organizations that are sending underprivileged girls to school.
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