A Summer Message from Linda Willis – Board Chair 2018

Greetings to you: 

We  hope that each of you is enjoying  all the pleasures of summer, although true to form, it goes by much too quickly. When I was teaching, as I turned the calendar page to August, I would inevitably start to think about the start of school in September, what I needed to purchase, how I wanted to set up my classroom and I would begin to percolate all these things in my mind before actually going into the school mid-August to do start putting the plan into action.

As a Director and Board Chair of Change Her World, that same process continues, albeit in a bit of a different fashion. We have received the budget from both the Chilumba and Mzuzu/Ekwendeni Projects. It is exciting and sobering at the same time. As of September, there will be a total of 27 girls in university and 12 more awaiting confirmation from their selected college or university. That is the exciting part. The sobering part is that we have to tell those 12 waiting that, if they are accepted, we cannot fund them. 

In truth, we do not have enough in the account right now, to cover the secondary school and university fees of those currently enrolled.Because the fees have risen so sharply in Malawi, in some cases 400%, and the US exchange continues to be high, Change Her World has not been able to bring any new girls into the project for the past two years.

Here are the facts for September 2018 :

Total secondary and university school fees for the first term – $22,323 US – approx. $30,136 CDN

CHW Current bank balance is $25,000

In addition to the school fees, there are  other commitments to address in order to meet the needs of the girls and the operation of the projects….in short, another approximately twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars. Our hostel projects and girls clubs are on hold as is the shipment. We now have to prioritize very carefully where the funds will be allocated…always paying the school fees first. Carol, Lorraine and I are fully aware that this work continues and grows only as our supporters increase and contribute. We are immensely humbled and gratified by the generosity of heart and spirit and that so many of you have demonstrated over the past 8 years. 

We are in a hard place right now and we need your help – plain and simple. Whatever you can contribute to ease the current financial constraints will be sincerely appreciated. Thank you very much.

Kindest regards,

Linda

Linda Willis   Board Chair  – Change Her World 

 P.O. Box 1057 Stratford, Ontario N5A 6W4

www.changeherworld.ca