Help Anu Stay In College This Academic Year

Anuarite Gikonyo is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello friends, friends of friends, and wider community!

I write to you all today hoping for your support through a globally tumultuous time that is personally affecting my family.

For those of you I have not had a chance to speak with, my name is Anuarite Gikonyo. I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, and currently study at Bennington College, USA with a transdisciplinary focus on Literature, Dance and Cultural Studies.

I think often and passionately about the psychosomatic healing of post-colonial third world societies. Simply put, I am concerned with the preservation of life force in third-world cities that are seemingly built to diminish it. I wonder about the construction of humanist systems, especially in the arts and education sector. As a writer, dancer and budding educator, I am inspired by the lineage of decolonial artists and thinkers that have come before me. My dream is to extend their work through my own practices and in doing so, keep the spirit of creativity, critical thought and community alive.

At Bennington, I truly am growing. I am receiving the academic support, freedom and resources that my creative voice and critical eye need. In the first year alone, I have been able to clarify my study areas, initiate research projects, as well as meet professors and fellow students who have become both friends and mentors. It is for this reason I am keen to continue my studies here, and now ask for your help to make this possible.

The Ukraine Crisis has had global ramifications across the world. In Kenya, it has contributed to a drastic rise in the cost of living and a depreciation of the Kenya shilling against major world currencies. Since I joined Bennington in August of 2021, the value of the Kenya Shilling has declined from Ksh 108 to Ksh 122 shillings to the US Dollar (buying rate). Meanwhile the cost of attending Bennington College has increased. We have found ourselves in a position where an unexpected Ksh 555,000 is asked of us. This amount has placed an inordinate strain on my family’s ability to pay in our currency. (See table attached for further cost breakdown).

Furthermore, these economic implications of the 2022 Crisis have hit shortly after those of the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2021. My parents experienced 40% pay cuts and a reduction in job traffic throughout the peak pandemic period, which has led to our family savings being depleted so as to make ends meet. We therefore do not have a stable source to make up the difference asked of us now, or to a source to draw from should the Kenyan economy continue to take a hit.

I am therefore looking to raise an amount of $5,000 by the last week of August 2022. The funds will go immediately to subsidizing the Fall 2022 tuition cost of $8,300.

Your contribution would give us the time to gather the remaining amount expected for this academic year, as well as begin to plan ahead for keeping me in college through junior (3rd) and senior (4th) years, whatever the external circumstances may be.

Contributions of any amount would be greatly appreciated! I would also appreciate your assistance sharing this widely, and with whoever you feel may have the will and capacity to assist.

I thank you, thank you, thank you in advance for your time and support :)

Love and light,

anu.

Cost Breakdown: