Hello again!
I have never enjoyed fundraising. As I was growing up I did the typical fundraisers for my schools and sold Girl Scout Cookies. I always detested asking people for money. I felt so awkward about it.
Well, through my internship with Mama Maji I am conquering my fear. I am running a fundraiser for their clean water project in Homa Bay, Kenya. Mama Maji is going to build a water system there that will deliver water to the local maternity ward, primary school, and the general community to reach a total of 11,000 people.
Without an easily accessible water source, women of Homa Bay walk for water 4 hours each day along a dangerous road to Lake Victoria. They risk being mugged and raped, as many women in their place have been in the past. The water they walk so long to reach is not even clean. It is making the children in the community sick. The people of Homa Bay deserve so much better. I feel strongly about this. The cause really resonates with me, which is why I have found success with my fundraiser. At the end of the day you are going to make much bigger waves if you truly believe in what you’re fighting for.
As a result, I reached my $500 goal in a couple of days. I raised my goal to $1000 and reached this too. Now my goal is $1500. I’m at $1390 and not done yet. It feels great harnessing the power of my community to do good in the world. I just returned home to Minneapolis to get my wisdom teeth out, and this Sunday I am speaking at my church on the closing day of my fundraiser to tell everyone there about Mama Maji. I wouldn’t be doing so if I didn’t care about the organization. This internship has been a truly rewarding experience, and I feel myself stepping into the work I want to do for the next phase of my life.
To my great excitement, my boss at Mama Maji has offered me a digital internship with the organization for Fall 2016 while I am abroad in Cape Town. I am very thankful for this opportunity to continue doing the work that gets me fired up!
Enjoy this meme I made for the fundraiser 🙂
~Gianna