Let’s Help Uwizeyimana Angelique Finish College!
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Getting to Know Uiwizeyimana Angelique
I have had the privilege of getting to know Wize (wee-zeh) over the past 6 months while working together on a social justice performance piece we have been touring around Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.
Wize facilitated community dialogues that follow each performance, inviting audience members to take part in guided story-sharing circles that invite us each to courageously and wholeheartedly engage in conversations about race.
In these circles, Wize demonstrated her graceful calm and compassionate strength to hold communities of people together in challenging and deeply healing dialogue.
And during the many opportunities I have had while touring with her, Wize has been generous in sharing her remarkable story. With her permission, I share it with you.
Wize’s Story
Wize was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania, where her parents where living after having fled the genocide in Rwanda. After spending her first 13 years in this refugee camp, her family was granted asylum in the US with refugee status. She came to live in Springfield, MA.
7 years later, as the oldest daughter and now strongest English speaker in the family, Wize not only helped herself, mother, grandmother, but also 3 other refugee community members through the complex process of securing their American citizenship. Wize was their primary translator for their citizenship test, for helping fill out extensive paperwork, setting up appointments, and for transporting everyone to and from the many different state and federal agencies they had to visit throughout the arduous US Citizen Naturalizing process.
As the only driver in the family, Wize is also the primary support for her 13-year old sister, also an honor student. This summer her sister, Uwimana Peragia has been invited to join a series of honor student special programs. To participate she needs Wize to help her get to and from these activities.
A Courageous Request for Help
After one of our performances a few weeks ago, Wize courageously shared with me that she was struggling to pay the tuition for her final semester at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. When I asked how much she needed, she shared she was $2900 short.
Wize is receiving significant funding support already to help make her college education more affordable. She receives a Federal Pell Grant, a MASSGrant for Community Engagement and Social Change, grants from Hampshire College, as well as work-study assistance and college loans.
She is working 2 jobs this summer, and has worked throughout her time in school. Even still, with carry so many responsibilities for her family, and with college tuition being so much, she is still $2900 short. Making the money to pay this bill in time to get back to school next semester is proving to be a huge challenge. Wize was looking at taking on a third job this summer, which would make supporting her sister in her honor student activities impossible.
How I Am Taking Action
I was touched that Wize felt comfortable enough with me to share this struggle. From experience, I know that asking for help can be very hard to do. Wize was courageous to share that she could use some support from the community. And I feel called to extend her community to include my own.
SO I am reaching out to all of you.
I think as well-meaning open-minded people, we often wonder “How can I affect change toward making a more just world.” It can feel overwhelming to try to take on the many systemic problems we have, and it can be easy to feel that having a real impact is beyond our reach. While we have to keep chipping away at the big systemic problems....
Affecting real change is also right in front of us. It is sometimes as simple as helping one person.
One person, who is already having such a significant impact on her family, and her community, and on everyone she interacts with.
Someone who so generously brings her life perspective to warmly open hearts and minds toward affecting change everywhere she goes.
Someone with the courage to share that she is in need of a little financial boost...
Like I have needed so many times in my life.
Like so many of us do.
I am inviting you, to join me in coming together to give Wize that boost.
With your help, together we can support Wize earning the college degree that will help open the possibilities for how she can further bring her experience to our community and to the world.
All she needs is $2900!
That's a ton when your already working as hard as she it. That's so little when we pool our resources to raise it.
If you can offer $5, great. If you can offer $25, great! If you can offer more, Hooray! All the money we raise through this campaign will go toward helping Wize pay her tuition at Hampshire College.
Help her keep the momentum she has going and finish school next semester!
Please share the link through any of your favorite networking platforms!
And thank you so much for joining me in giving Wize this encouragement and support!
I have had the privilege of getting to know Wize (wee-zeh) over the past 6 months while working together on a social justice performance piece we have been touring around Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.
Wize facilitated community dialogues that follow each performance, inviting audience members to take part in guided story-sharing circles that invite us each to courageously and wholeheartedly engage in conversations about race.
In these circles, Wize demonstrated her graceful calm and compassionate strength to hold communities of people together in challenging and deeply healing dialogue.
And during the many opportunities I have had while touring with her, Wize has been generous in sharing her remarkable story. With her permission, I share it with you.
Wize’s Story
Wize was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania, where her parents where living after having fled the genocide in Rwanda. After spending her first 13 years in this refugee camp, her family was granted asylum in the US with refugee status. She came to live in Springfield, MA.
7 years later, as the oldest daughter and now strongest English speaker in the family, Wize not only helped herself, mother, grandmother, but also 3 other refugee community members through the complex process of securing their American citizenship. Wize was their primary translator for their citizenship test, for helping fill out extensive paperwork, setting up appointments, and for transporting everyone to and from the many different state and federal agencies they had to visit throughout the arduous US Citizen Naturalizing process.
As the only driver in the family, Wize is also the primary support for her 13-year old sister, also an honor student. This summer her sister, Uwimana Peragia has been invited to join a series of honor student special programs. To participate she needs Wize to help her get to and from these activities.
A Courageous Request for Help
After one of our performances a few weeks ago, Wize courageously shared with me that she was struggling to pay the tuition for her final semester at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. When I asked how much she needed, she shared she was $2900 short.
Wize is receiving significant funding support already to help make her college education more affordable. She receives a Federal Pell Grant, a MASSGrant for Community Engagement and Social Change, grants from Hampshire College, as well as work-study assistance and college loans.
She is working 2 jobs this summer, and has worked throughout her time in school. Even still, with carry so many responsibilities for her family, and with college tuition being so much, she is still $2900 short. Making the money to pay this bill in time to get back to school next semester is proving to be a huge challenge. Wize was looking at taking on a third job this summer, which would make supporting her sister in her honor student activities impossible.
How I Am Taking Action
I was touched that Wize felt comfortable enough with me to share this struggle. From experience, I know that asking for help can be very hard to do. Wize was courageous to share that she could use some support from the community. And I feel called to extend her community to include my own.
SO I am reaching out to all of you.
I think as well-meaning open-minded people, we often wonder “How can I affect change toward making a more just world.” It can feel overwhelming to try to take on the many systemic problems we have, and it can be easy to feel that having a real impact is beyond our reach. While we have to keep chipping away at the big systemic problems....
Affecting real change is also right in front of us. It is sometimes as simple as helping one person.
One person, who is already having such a significant impact on her family, and her community, and on everyone she interacts with.
Someone who so generously brings her life perspective to warmly open hearts and minds toward affecting change everywhere she goes.
Someone with the courage to share that she is in need of a little financial boost...
Like I have needed so many times in my life.
Like so many of us do.
I am inviting you, to join me in coming together to give Wize that boost.
With your help, together we can support Wize earning the college degree that will help open the possibilities for how she can further bring her experience to our community and to the world.
All she needs is $2900!
That's a ton when your already working as hard as she it. That's so little when we pool our resources to raise it.
If you can offer $5, great. If you can offer $25, great! If you can offer more, Hooray! All the money we raise through this campaign will go toward helping Wize pay her tuition at Hampshire College.
Help her keep the momentum she has going and finish school next semester!
Please share the link through any of your favorite networking platforms!
And thank you so much for joining me in giving Wize this encouragement and support!
Fundraising team (2)
Marie Brown
Organizer
Raised $430 from 8 donations
Northampton, MA
Uwizeyimana Angelique
Beneficiary
Trenda Loftin
Team member
Raised $355 from 4 donations
This team raised $2,322 from 27 other donations.
