Help Women Go to School!

In Nicaragua, Emili receives her sixth grade diploma after giving the valedictorian speech for her school.

In Guatemala, Valentina is (again!) a bandadera—a flag holder—in the annual parade, an honor she received because of her high grades, and being valedictorian of her class.

In Kenya, Mercy will be able to go to school uninterrupted with our scholarship, meaning she won't be forced to leave school for good, go home and be circumcised and married off at 19.

In Nepal, Bharosha (in the green shirt in the middle) and her friends from 11th grade, where she is studying pre-nursing.

In Honduras, Linda Maria is on the honor roll again!

In Haiti, Bencille graduated from high school and is hoping to go to the university.

In Nicaragua, Karina received her diploma from the university in Leon and is starting a tourism business in her home village.

In Nicaragua, Elizabeth is starting her fourth year of university. She is in a six-year program for biomedical analysis and hopes to open her own lab in her town.

In Nepal, Sumira is in Class 4 and loves school.

You can make a huge difference by donating to One New Education. We are a Flagstaff, Arizona based 501c3 non-profit that provides scholarships to girls and young women in developing countries to help them graduate from high school and move into the university, a job, or a vocational school. The young woman on our cover photo is now in her second year at the university, studying Biomedical Equipment Engineering. She's already created some amazing tools, including a wireless wheelchair! She's so excited to help her community, and to show other women that they, too, can achieve their dreams.

Dozens of studies have shown that educating girls is one of the best investments we can make for the future of our planet. Women are the threads that bind societies, so access to an education helps both her and her family and the broader community as well. More educated women translates into lower population growth, and infant and child mortality, and an improvement in family health. When more girls are enrolled in secondary school, there are more women participating in the labor force and they are able to contribute more to household and national income. Educated women are more politically active and better informed about their legal rights and how to exercise them. There is also an important link between the number of educated women in a society, and less violence and extremism. The importance of educating women in ending the cycle of violence and poverty in these countries cannot be overstated.

The women in these countries often have children when they are as young as 14 or 15 and, by the time they are 20, they have several children and no way to support them, much less provide for an education. One New Education believes that one of the critical ingredients to end this cycle is education.

We founded One New Education in 2011 and we have provided or are providing scholarships to more than three dozen young women from Mexico, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and Tanzania. We support young women through secondary school and beyond for as long as we are able. We have a board of five amazing women who are teachers, businesswomen, outdoor educators, and artists—sometimes all four at once! Four of us live in Flagstaff: Janeece, Leslie, Birgit, and Christa, and the fifth board member, Meghan, lives in Massachusetts.

ONE currently provides support for 24 students, eight of whom are in post-secondary studies (either the university or a vocational program). We are a small organization, and we try to keep a personal connection with as many of our students and in-country contacts as we can. Some of our scholarship recipients have been with us for more than a decade, and it's very gratifying to hear them call us "mami!" Our "daughters" are bright, funny, dedicated, passionate, beautiful human beings, and we are so excited to help them accomplish their dreams.

Anything you can give is greatly appreciated. University educations cost more than primary or secondary (although not as much as in the United States), so we are trying to raise as much money as we can to help all our students succeed beyond secondary school. We are running this fundraiser through the month of March, since this is the month in which we founded ONE. March is also Women's History Month, and March 8 is International Women's Day. So we are in good company!

You can find our more about our organization and all our beautiful students at www.oneneweducation.org. Please join us in helping support young women in school—ONE at a time!