Empowering Girls Through Sports
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Caroline Miller and I just graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, CA. Since July, I have been living in Cusco, Peru and working as a Project Manager for a nonprofit called GirlSportWorks http://girlsportworks.org/, whose mission is to use athletics to empower and teach life skills to young girls in Cusco.
I will be living in Cusco until August 2016, and during my time here I plan to raise $2000 to directly support my students. GirlSportWorks is a very small nonprofit and every dollar truly counts.
What Am I Doing In Cusco?
My job is to teach sports and valuable life skills to girls aged 7-17 at five different schools in and around Cusco. I teach a varied sports curriculum which centers around six-week units interspersed with ‘foundational lessons’ which employ a combination of physical activities and structured discussions to teach lessons related to GirlSportWorks's core values of self-esteem, confidence, leadership, teamwork, communication, and healthy living. In addition to sports, I teach English at two of the schools and lead field trips for each of the classes. This semester we went rock climbing, lazer-tagging and swimming, and I also led an overnight trip to Machu Picchu for my oldest class.
Why Donate?
Were you fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play sports as a kid? Did they have a significant impact on your growth as a person?
Ever since I could walk, I have been involved in sports. I was put into hockey skates and skis at the age of 3, and the rest is history. Sports were a fundamental aspect of my growth and development, and I honestly can't imagine the person I'd be today if I hadn't had those opportunities.
In Cusco, there is no emphasis on physical education for girls. While many boys will kick around a soccer ball after school, girls are expected to go home and help out around the house as well as take care of their younger siblings. The free after-school sports classes I teach provide a safe space for girls to learn, grow, and most importantly: have fun!
Where Will Your Money Go?
Just in case you were wondering, GirlSportWorks IS a registered 501(c) nonprofit which means that any donations to this campaign will go directly towards the programs we offer, field/court renovations, new equipment, and the cultural and athletic field trips we lead. Here are a few examples of how your donations could help out my students:
$5 will provide a week's worth of healthy snacks to one of my classes
$10 will provide new stickers and markers for my students to decorate their attendance folders
$20 could allow for an entire class of mine to visit the pool for the first time
$75 could allow for an entire class of mine to go on a field trip to Cusco's brand new lazer-tag facility
$100 could allow for an entire class of mine to go on a field trip to a real rock face outside of Cusco and learn to rock climb for the first time
Donations of $150 or more will aid us in replacing sports equipment like balls, pinnies, cones, sticks, bats, etc, renovating field and court spaces to make them safer for the girls, and also allow us to take more field trips to new and exciting places in and outside of Cusco!
Even if you can only spare a few dollars, let me reiterate one more time that EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
My girls are so incredibly grateful for the opportunites that GirlSportWorks provides for them, and I can't even put into words how thankful I'd be if I can meet this fundraising goal. This job has had such an enormous impact on my life, and although some days it is really difficult to be living so far away in South America, there is no way to describe the gratification that I feel every single day when I arrive to class and am greeted with so many hugs and kisses, and with such utter excitement and enthusiasm.
Feel free to email me with any questions, and/or check out our website and Facebook page for more information.
I will be living in Cusco until August 2016, and during my time here I plan to raise $2000 to directly support my students. GirlSportWorks is a very small nonprofit and every dollar truly counts.
What Am I Doing In Cusco?
My job is to teach sports and valuable life skills to girls aged 7-17 at five different schools in and around Cusco. I teach a varied sports curriculum which centers around six-week units interspersed with ‘foundational lessons’ which employ a combination of physical activities and structured discussions to teach lessons related to GirlSportWorks's core values of self-esteem, confidence, leadership, teamwork, communication, and healthy living. In addition to sports, I teach English at two of the schools and lead field trips for each of the classes. This semester we went rock climbing, lazer-tagging and swimming, and I also led an overnight trip to Machu Picchu for my oldest class.
Why Donate?
Were you fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play sports as a kid? Did they have a significant impact on your growth as a person?
Ever since I could walk, I have been involved in sports. I was put into hockey skates and skis at the age of 3, and the rest is history. Sports were a fundamental aspect of my growth and development, and I honestly can't imagine the person I'd be today if I hadn't had those opportunities.
In Cusco, there is no emphasis on physical education for girls. While many boys will kick around a soccer ball after school, girls are expected to go home and help out around the house as well as take care of their younger siblings. The free after-school sports classes I teach provide a safe space for girls to learn, grow, and most importantly: have fun!
Where Will Your Money Go?
Just in case you were wondering, GirlSportWorks IS a registered 501(c) nonprofit which means that any donations to this campaign will go directly towards the programs we offer, field/court renovations, new equipment, and the cultural and athletic field trips we lead. Here are a few examples of how your donations could help out my students:
$5 will provide a week's worth of healthy snacks to one of my classes
$10 will provide new stickers and markers for my students to decorate their attendance folders
$20 could allow for an entire class of mine to visit the pool for the first time
$75 could allow for an entire class of mine to go on a field trip to Cusco's brand new lazer-tag facility
$100 could allow for an entire class of mine to go on a field trip to a real rock face outside of Cusco and learn to rock climb for the first time
Donations of $150 or more will aid us in replacing sports equipment like balls, pinnies, cones, sticks, bats, etc, renovating field and court spaces to make them safer for the girls, and also allow us to take more field trips to new and exciting places in and outside of Cusco!
Even if you can only spare a few dollars, let me reiterate one more time that EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
My girls are so incredibly grateful for the opportunites that GirlSportWorks provides for them, and I can't even put into words how thankful I'd be if I can meet this fundraising goal. This job has had such an enormous impact on my life, and although some days it is really difficult to be living so far away in South America, there is no way to describe the gratification that I feel every single day when I arrive to class and am greeted with so many hugs and kisses, and with such utter excitement and enthusiasm.
Feel free to email me with any questions, and/or check out our website and Facebook page for more information.
Organizer
Caroline Miller
Organizer
Providence, RI
