Foundation SCA's 1 Year Anniversary

Things have been so hectic planning for our Inaugural Cocktail Benefit on November 10, (see http://foundationsca.org/index.asp?pageid=51 for more info) that I forgot to mention it was our 1 year anniversary of receiving our 501 (c ) 3 on Tuesday October 27! Happy Anniversary to us. Foundation SCA has come a long way, and we have all learned so much in the short time we have been involved with the foundation.

Fundraising this year has been a challenge, but since Lourdes and myself were hired in February of 2009, we have been able to raise 24% of the necessary funding to cover our program budget. Every last penny of these donations has already been given to our programs. We funded a wonderful seminar on the importance of family in Russia, gave 2 girls from Lexington College scholarships, and were able to give partial funding to our Professional Training Center in Cameroon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have had faith in our work and had the courage to support our programs. I can testify first hand that your money is being put to good use and our programs really are changing the lives of young women.

This means we have raised 9% of what we need for operating expenses, our program budget, and our desired endowment fund. We still have some work to do, but hopefully with our continued efforts and a successful Benefit on November 10, we will be a few steps closer to our 2009 goals.

I cannot express adequately in words what a worthy investment I know these programs are. I believe it will take some time for others to recognize this, but I am confident that they will and they too will be excited about making an investment in the lives of women around the world.

Gender Gap Report 2009

"Women and girls make up one half of the human resources available to the world and it will be imperative that they are educated, empowered and integrated for a rapid economic recovery"

Saadia Zahihi, Director of Head Constituents, World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report came out yesterday. The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and health based criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, and over time.

The Global Gender Gap Index ranks countries according to their proximity to gender equality rather than to women’s empowerment. Our aim is to focus on whether the gap between women and men in the chosen variables has declined, rather than whether women are “winning” the “battle of the sexes”. Hence, the Index rewards countries that reach the point where outcomes for women equal those for men, but it neither rewards nor penalizes cases in which women are outperforming men in particular variables.

134 countries were ranked. Both South Africa and Switzerland have made significant improvements from 2008. Cameroon ranks 118th, Kenya ranks 98th, Slovenia ranks 52nd, Russia ranks 51st, and Poland ranks 50th.

check out the full report: http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2009.pdf

Missing Funds for Internally Displaced Kenyans

There has been a lot in the news lately about the IDPs in Kenya. Most of the people living in the Farm Camp Foundation SCA is supporting never received government funding to try and rebuild their lives. This is the main reason why many are still living in tents.

http://www.afrol.com/articles/34520

Nakuru

Ironic... the picture at the top of this article was taken at the same IDP camp I visited this summer in Nakuru, Kenya and the one SCA is trying to raise money for in 2010. I am so happy awareness is slowly starting about the millions of displaced in Africa!

http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167/2009/09/19-104857-1.htm

Internally Displaced Persons in Africa

I thought this Article was rather timely considering Foundation SCA has recently decided to take on fundraising to send 20 girls in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons to school. This issue is one of the many serious problems that has yet to find a sound solution.

African Union Summit tackles internally displaced for the first time

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4813101,00.html?maca=en-en_nr-1893-xml-atom

College Scholarships for Women

SCHOLARSHIP BENEFIT

Lexington College will host its Building Scholarships for Service annual benefit dinner on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Chicago Marriott, 625 S. Ashland Ave. The event will honor Jan Fields, executive vice president and chief operating officer of McDonald’s USA. Proceeds go toward scholarship funds for women earning a degree in hospitality management from Lexington. Call (312) 226-6294, ext. 224.