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Clinton’s Newest Passion: School Girls in Kenya. by Natalie Pace. President Clinton started the Clinton Global Initiative five years ago to "turn good intentions into real action and results." Toward that end, commitments made in the corridors of CGI Meetings have affected more than 200 million lives in 170 countries (according to CGI data). More than 1,700 commitments have been made, valued at $57 billion. (The most famous CGI sprouts would be the Cash for Clunkers Program, Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation and Water.org – a Matt Damon project.) Mary Mwende Alex, a college-bound Kenyan, may not yet fully comprehend just how much $57 billion is. Girls in her neighborhood are still struggling to scrape together change for tampons and shoes. But she is completely aware of and grateful for the extraordinary opportunities that lie before her, thanks to CGI and her mentor, Linda Lockhart. In 2008, Linda Lockhart, the founder of the Global Give Back Circle, leveraged a membership with CGI into a partnership with Microsoft, AREbank Greece and Equity Bank. With the support of these partners, GGBC volunteers have financially supported and personally guided 35 disadvantaged (female) high school graduates in Kenya out of the slums and into college. This year, Linda has committed to expand the GGBC reach and bring another 100 girls into the program. With that goal in mind, she flew three GGBC Ambassadors (recent high school grads, bound for college) to the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in New York City.
September 22, 2009 was the first time that Mary Mwende Alex, Khadija Abdulla Said and Carolyne Manchara had ever visited New York City, or worn makeup and hosiery, but they were nonplussed and inspiring both times they took the stage at the Clinton Global Initiative. President Clinton invited Mary, Khadija and Carolyne to rap, as a warm-up for the crowd before the opening keynote speaker – President Barack Obama. And three days later, just moments before his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, closed the ceremony, President Clinton proudly announced that the American University in Dubai had offered 4-year scholarships to the three young women, to attend their university as Clinton Scholars.
While in New York City, at a social gathering sponsored by CGI, Mary, Khadija and Carolyne chatted up celebrities, including Martin Scorsese (without realizing who he was) and Alicia Keys, and handed out their business cards.
It’s quite a long way from Kenya, but these girls take their jobs as Ambassadors for the organization that saved them seriously. They are devoted to getting out and getting educated, but not just for themselves. Each intend to return to Kenya and help their friends escape the health hazards and poverty that run rampant, destroying the spirit and possibilities of those still living in the slums.
Mary
Mwende Alex (in her own words) Female genital mutilation is still practiced in several communities. No anesthesia is used, so the little girl bears all that pain and sometimes dies, due to either the pain or excessive bleeding. Most communities still think that the position of a woman in the society is the kitchen. Therefore when the boys are either playing or studying, the girl is doing the house chores and being taught how to be a good mother. Early marriages still occur in a few communities and this is forced early marriage and not just "early" marriage. A girl is married off at a very young age, and this is really disheartening because the dreams of that girl are buried in the kitchen and in the house chores. We never dream again when such things occur. We stop dreaming. That is why we need the organizations that are involved in the fight against all these inhuman customs to help out. That is why we need organizations like the Global Give Back Circle to bring back the old memories -- where we used to dream big. The circumcision process of a girl is very painful and bitter. I have not experienced it, but I have seen it happen to many. I have read what they do and you will never imagine anything like it. Some communities are really rough and the girl dies during childbirth. Most are affected for the rest of their lives. The women of Africa in general want to sing a song of love. And the time is finally here when each and every being should sit down and think about all these things. They are totally unacceptable and are disheartening.
Mary’s mission is to educate herself and return home to empower her African sisters. Thankfully and miraculously, this mission caught Clinton’s roving eye. And I’m not just talking about Bill. Both Bill and Hillary share the passion of actively improving the lives and opportunities for girls and women worldwide. In her role as Secretary of State, one of the first things Secretary Clinton did was to appoint the first Ambassador of Global Women’s Issues – Ambassador Melanne Verveer. As Secretary Clinton says in a special message on Oprah.com, "Women and girls hold up half the sky… A change must happen so that [they] have the rights and the voice that they deserve to have." "The most dangerous places in the world are those places where women are put down," according to the U.S. Ambassador of Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer. "No country can prosper if it leaves half of its population behind," she advises. In January, Mary Mwende will board a plane to a new life that few girls in Kenya could ever imagine -- college. She is deeply honored to be a Clinton Scholar at the American University in Dubai. She aims to study biotechnology. All of this is possible thanks to the work and vision of the Clintons (giving women and girls a stage and a voice), Mary’s mentor Linda Lockhart and Global Give Back Circle’s partners Microsoft, AREbank Greece and Equity Bank. For more information, please visit the Global Give Back Circle’s website, where mentors are actively empowering talented, intelligent girls in Kenya to lift up their half of the sky – before they are married off… or mutilated..
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