Gracias

From one of our fifth graders in El Salvador :-)
Today we are wiring funds for a second round!!

Victor, Age 14

A nice thank you drawing from Victor, one of our students in El Salvador :-)

Whenever we are stressing about not being big enough, not having enough Facebook likes, not getting certain publicity, or not having emails returned, we just have to look at one of our student's drawings and we're brought back to the basics: we are getting children into school.  We are providing children with the opportunity to receive an education.  The opportunity to change their lives, their family's lives, change their villages, and change their countries.  And you know where I'm going with this .... we couldn't do this without your support.  Thank you too :-)

xoxo,
Megan & Jess

Your heart in need of a jump start?

Read this! It just melted our hearts to read this sweet letter.  Below is a translated thank you letter from one of our ninth grade students in El Salvador.....

God bless you!

          I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for donating the uniform.  I am a ninth-grade      student and I have a scholarship at LACC.  I only had a skirt and I had to come to school with a special shirt for not having uniform, but now I am very grateful to God and all the people who made the uniform donations possible, not only to me but also to all my fellow 9th graders and all of the students at Naranjo School.

I’d like to tell you that all of you who have collaborated in giving us these precious uniforms have big hearts, because it’s not just anyone who does this for children and young ones but you all had that great heart.  Maybe there are children with more than one uniform that are no longer surprised by a gift like this but for those who do not have, it is a great blessing.

Cindy Gisela Arevalo Caleron

Ninth Grader

I think I speak for all of us when I say, YOU ARE WELCOME CINDY! 

To our faithful readers, we want to remind you that we would not be able to provide these much needed uniforms without your support! We hope this thank you note brightened your day as much as it did ours!

xoxo,

Megan & Jess

Thank you from Jaquel

one of our third graders in El Salvador :-)

 

You are most welcome Jaquel!

xoxo,
Megan & Jess

Thank you from a 5th grader

"I am very thankful for this blessing because you donated a uniform"

 

Maritza, 5th grader

 

 

xo, Megan and Jess

It's all worth it

Below is one of the thank you letters we received from El Salvador, translated from Spanish.

------------------------------------------

I’d like to thank God for this opportunity to address you. 

I’d like to share the story of our lives with you.  I have four

 children in the San Jose Christian High School of El Naranjo.

We are a family of limited economic resources since my

husband works as a grain and corn cultivator for the daily

sustenance of our family, which is why we were not able to

obtain a uniform because we do not have a monthly salary.  

We dedicate ourselves to caring for the sowing season in

order to have food for the rest of the year, and so we could

not buy uniforms for our children.  But we thank God and we

thank you because now each of our children can have a

uniform and this is a great blessing to the lives of our

children and the whole family.

May God bless you in a special way.

                                                                        F. Luz González

                                                                        Mother of a family

Reading this makes it all worth it :)

XOXO,

Megan & Jess

Muchas Gracias

A few Fridays ago we had a wonderful surprise in our mailbox, a stack of thank you notes from our project in El Salvador.  These notes written by students, parents and teachers were not for me and Jess, but for ALL of our donors!  Starting today we will be sharing a note or two each week so that all of you can be properly thanked from these adorable children.

First up, from Lucia Gabriela age 9 (the blonde hair is amazing)

Hope this smiling face brightens everyone's Monday!

xo, Megan and Jess

El Salvador Project: Complete

Our project in El Salvador is officially complete!  Last week we received an amazing package; in addition to tons of pictures we also found a stack of thank you notes from the children, parents, teachers and principals.  Over the next few weeks we will be sharing the thank you notes with you, but for now here are a few more pictures of the children in their new uniforms.  Thanks to our donors we were able to provide a total of 794!  That means 794 children will receive an education and have a chance at a brighter future!

xo, Megan and Jess

El Salvador Project: ALMOST Complete

The tailor ran out of the proper material for the uniforms in El Salvador causing a delay through the spring, but we are happy to report that 70% of the uniforms have been delivered!  Once the project is complete a total of 794 will have been distributed to the following schools: Liceo San Jose El Naranjo, Liceo Achiotal, Liceo San Vicente and Liceo Guatajiagua. 

We even received this FABULOUS thank you from the children!

Uniforms being distributed

I adore these smiling faces

I can't help but wonder what they are discussing! 

Class pictures to show off their uniforms!

Hopefully we will have more pictures to share in the coming weeks!

xo, Megan and Jess

Week in Review

High-five for Friday! 

Since the gang truce in March, El Salvador has seen a 60% drop in violence.  Hopefully this peace can continue. 

This beautiful poem by a young Haitian boy perfectly describes the need and desire for education in developing countries! 

The Cambodian Ministry of Health has made a new push for education through increased monitoring of hand, foot and mouth disease.  A few weeks ago schools were shut in an effort to keep the disease from spreading.

Local female leaders in Kenya make strides for women's education. 

It is no secret that we love FEED projects, but the new FEED India line is AMAZING. These patterns make my heart skip a beat and are perfect for the beach! 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 
xo, Megan and Jess

Birthday Week in Review 5-18-12

We are only a few hours from celebrating our FIRST BIRTHDAY.  

It has been a GREAT week and we couldn't be happier (or more excited to relax)!  We received a project update from Honduras, we successfully made it through a presentation to our largest group of adults yet, we made some headway on our "one for one" product and we have raised enough money for 218 uniforms.  There is still time to help us meet our goal of 365 before tomorrow!

We have constantly been shocked and saddened by the number of children in Haiti living as restavaks.

The new President of Malawi firmly believes that education for women is the best way to keep them safe and healthy. 

More on President Joyce Banda's stance of education for girls.

Lots of great things going on in Kibera, the largest slum of Kenya.

We've mentioned our love for JADEtribe products before, but when I saw this adorable ipad case in the new LONNY last week I couldn't help but share.  It screams summer and the beach, which is thankfully just around the corner!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for a birthday surprise!

xo, Megan and Jess

El Salvador Project Completed!

This winter we funded our first project in El Salvador!  We provided 794 uniforms to children at four different schools.  We received pictures a few weeks ago and are so excited to share them with you!

How cute are those smiling faces?

Visit Our Projects page to learn more about El Salvador and the obstacles these children will face in an effort to receive an education.

Don't forget there are only a few more days to donate a uniform for our 365 DAYS OF EDUCATION campaign!

xo, Megan and Jess

Country Spotlight on El Salvador

We just finished up a project in El Salvador providing 794 uniforms to children at the Liceo Cristiano schools.  We are waiting on pictures but in the meantime here is a short profile on El Salvador.

Population: 6.1 million

Area: 8,008 square miles (about the size of Massachusetts)

Literacy: 86.1% nationally; 77.6% in rural areas

Number of children of primary school: 47,632

Secondary school participation rate (boys): 54%

Secondary school participation rate (girls): 56%

30.6% of the population is between 0-14 years of age

Average years of schooling for adults: 5.2 years

Education expenditures: 3.6% of GDP

Per capita income: $3,431

The crime rates are the second highest in the world with intentional homicide rates of 71 per everyone 100,000 people (the US is 4.8 per 100,000). 

This article highlights the problems facing El Salvador's residents.  Education is one of the key ways to decrease crime rates over the next generation, keeping children in school and out of gangs.  We can wait to tell you more about our partnership in El Salvador and share personal stories about the children living there! 

xo, Megan and Jess

Sources (1) (2) (3)

Week in Review

There are 1,000,000 children at risk of dying from malnutrition in Sahel.  UNICEF put out this video to help spread the word before it is too late.  Click here to learn more about how you can help.

Our hearts go out to those in Mathare who lost their loved ones this week.

For our supporters in New York, this run is helping get Haitian children to school.  Run through Central Park and help children be able to attend school?  Sounds like a great plan to us!

We are so inspired by Fr. José “Pepe” Moratalla's work in El Salvador to decrease rates of violence through education. 

I was so excited for my JADEtribe make-up bag from Histoire to arrive this week.  The packaging at Histoire says it all "created by hands.  packaged with conscience. making goodness happen."  So not only is my new JADEtribe make-up bag great looking it is handmade from organically dyed and recycled textiles by tribal women in Asia.  JADEtribe was started when designer Kimberly Hartman traveled to Southeast Asia and now she works with women in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.  Thanks to Histoire and JADEtribe every time I look at my new bag I will think about our upcoming project to provide 3,400 uniforms to children in Cambodia.

Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!  We are looking forward to some much needed time with our families!

xo, Megan and Jess