Two months ago we asked you to help us change the lives of a few girls for the better. We had a goal — to raise as much money as possible through a social networking grassroots campaign to send girls to school. And, as we reported just before 2011 dawned, we did it! Two girls in Guatemala will receive full education and mentorship for a year because of us. Soak in that a minute. Our community did that. Each one of us. Doesn’t that feel good?
There are a lot of campaigns out there doing a lot of good work, but now because of social media, you actually are starting to see exactly where your donations are going and who they’re helping. The kind founders of Starfish One by One and She’s the First — our partners in this nonprofit fundraiser, ‘Likes’ for Learning — put together a video for us so we have the opportunity to meet Zonia Saloj, one of the two girls we sponsored.
Zonia is from a rural village outside the city of Salola, and 2011 marks her first year in middle school and with the Starfish One by One Program. Furthermore, she is the first girl in her family to attend middle school. Imagine this: Zonia just met the others in the Starfish One by One group and this video is her first-ever appearance on any type of video before. Travis, executive director of Starfish One by One, says Zonia is a little shy and introverted. He says he has no doubt she will come out of her shell and transform into a more confident girl in future videos. We look forward to seeing Zonia grow, and let’s watch together as we see her education empower her dreams.