Jessica Markowitz, Richard's Rwanda
When Jessica Markowitz was in the 6th grade, a Rwandan man named Richard stayed with her family and told them about the horrific 1994 genocide in his country. Jessica, who’s favorite quote is: “When you educate a girl, you educate a community,” was particularly shocked to learn that many Rwandan girls couldn’t afford to go to school, and, as the daughter of an activist, knew she could do something about it.
Jessica’s foundation, Impuwe Richard’s Rwanda, has since evolved from middle-school car-washes and bake sales to selling apparel and writing grant proposals to fund support for more than 7 different Rwandan schools. In between taking the SATs and managing the many other challenges of high school, Jessica is currently working to build the Rwandan students a much-needed science center, and several other members have formed more chapters to continue to grow the youth-led organization.
See their work in action here:
www.richardsrwanda.org
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Well done to Jessica.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who went to Africa at the time to do some charity work and had to deal with all the refugees flooding across the border. They even saw bodies floating in the river. Such a shocking tragedy. Really hard to fathom.