Emily Allen, a
recent high school graduate, learned of The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project through
Anu, a colleague of her father’s and a NAOP Board Member. “[Anu] heard of my
interest in taking [a year off] between high school and college and [my]
interests in doing humanitarian work abroad,” Emily said.
Emily is currently a Communications Intern for The NAOP in East Lansing,
MI. After traveling from Virginia and adjusting to life in Michigan she has
loved getting more involved and cannot wait to travel to Uganda. She says, “This experience has
convinced me that I would like to be involved with non-profit work in the
future and I cannot wait to experience the program hands on when I visit Nyaka.
I'm grateful for this opportunity.”
Emily wants to visit the Nyaka school on
a fact finding mission. “I am very hopeful that this mission will be
successful, and if not, I will still be sharing my experience and hopefully
inspire others to have the motivation to be involved in something so much
bigger than themselves,” She said. She
wants to discover what it is that the children need and use that knowledge to
connect the Nyaka School with a school in Virginia through curriculum and
adolescent development.
Emily plans
to go spend time in Uganda in February 2013. Before going overseas, her goal is
to start raising money to provide a child with a scholarship that will provide
them with a 12-year education. “Whether or not this mission is successful, I
will have at least touched one life,” she said.
So far Emily
has raised around $1700 of the amount for the scholarship. Her high school is
very supportive of student’s ideas and Emily thought that would be the perfect
place to start fundraising. She got the needed permission and started
spreading the word through school announcements and emails. Emily held four bake sales, received many
donations from faculty and students and held a dress down Friday. For future
fundraising efforts Emily plans to hold bake sales at the local farmer’s market
and start a blog with a link to donate. Below is the newspaper article from her hometown about her
work.
Thank you Emily for being such a shining
example for young people all over the world!
