Jen's Internship in Africa Fund

03/08/13

Dear friends (past, present, and future),

This letter is to ask for your help. Not an easy thing for me to do.  In this instance, however, there is little I will not do to ensure that I am able to travel to Africa this May and experience all that my path has been leading me to. Let me explain:

Last fall I was accepted into the Master's Program in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego. I am in my second semester of classes and I am also in the midst of planning my required 10-week internship for this summer. I have chosen to seek my internship in one of the many stricken areas in Africa. 

Note to self: flying to Africa is not cheap, nor are the immunizations, or the visa, plus the food and living costs, and then the transportation costs once I am in the country. I will receive a small amount of aid from USD for this internship to go towards my travel to and from Africa, but students are responsible for the majority of the costs.   

My goal is to raise $5,000 to pay for the expenses of this trip. A lofty goal, but one which I hope you might make a small contribution to. No donation is too small and I am humbly grateful for each and every contribution.

I am in the process of applying to three incredible organizations for my 10-week internship: the Justice and Reconciliation Project in Uganda; Fambul Tok in Sierra Leone; and The Bethany Project in Zimbabwe. These are organizations dedicated to human rights advocacy, restorative justice in communities where human atrocities have taken place, and in the case of The Bethany Project, HIV and AIDS prevention and the mitigation of its impact on orphans and other vulnerable children in Zimbabwe. I would be equally happy to be offered an internship with any of these organizations.  Please take a look at their websites to see what amazing work they are doing "“ more than I can convey in this brief letter. Words cannot explain the emotion and wholeness I feel knowing that I will be going to Africa to assist one of these programs in their peacebuilding work.

I am not just asking for your financial assistance, but I am inviting you to be a part of this journey with me. During my internship I plan to keep a blog so you can see exactly where your contribution is going. I want to connect people as much as I can to what I am doing on the ground. Spreading awareness is a huge part of peacebuilding after all.

Whether you are able to contribute financially or not, thank you for taking the time to read this! And please pass this letter on to anyone else you think might be willing to support my internship!

Sincerely and gratefully,

Jennifer Gigliotti