Greetings and Happy Holidays, from ONE New Education!

Thank you so much for your past support. We are closing in on the end of our seventh year, we currently support 28 students, and we are more grateful than ever for those of you who want to help girls around the world get an education, whether it’s through ONE or through another organization.

Here are some highlights from our year, so you can know a bit about where your money has gone:

• On November 20, 2017, Pascuala Alicia Och Ixmata became our second high school graduate (and the first person in her family to reach that milestone)! She plans to work for a year or two to support her younger siblings in school, and then she wants to go on to the university.
• Husna in Tanzania passed her exams by achieving Form 1, which only about 1% of Tanzanian high schoolers accomplish. So she is in the top tier of students in the whole country.
• We accepted two new scholarship applicants: Apurva from India, and Achecaina from Haiti.
• Naomi in Uganda took her exams to enter high school. We are still waiting to receive her results, but we have no doubt she will be entering high school next year!
• Almost every one of our girls in Nicaragua got high enough grades to be honored with marching in the September festival parade!
• Our board now consists of six members. Alex Mowl left the board, although he remains an integral part of the foundation as its co-founder. In addition to Christa, Meghan, Janeece, and Birgit, we have now been joined by Leslie Grabel and Heather Mowl. All of these women have incredible skills and experience, and are a huge asset to the foundation.
• We keep in touch with most of our contacts and girls via Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, or emails.
• Using personal funds, Christa, Leslie, and Janeece were able to visit some of the girls to watch their progress and to deepen our connection with them.

We are still an all-volunteer organization managed from Christa’s home office. This past year the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy held two fundraisers for us. The National Honor Society students held a music show and raffle to raise money for Naomi in Uganda, and in February, ONE and FALA held the “Dance Party for ONE and All” benefit, in which we auctioned off chairs and other furniture transformed by community artists and students into beautiful pieces of art, and we all enjoyed music and dance presented by several different groups of students and professionals. We are so grateful for their efforts and help, and we look forward to future fundraisers with these talented people.

Our current annual budget is $18,000. We are delighted and proud that just about eighty-five percent of what we receive goes directly to our scholarship recipients. We received a grant of $2,500 early in the year from Kahtoola 1% For the People, to support our girls in Nepal, and we are very grateful for that help. The vast majority of our operating budget comes from you, the individual private donor. You are still our greatest support and most powerful ally in accomplishing our work. As always, we work to get the word out to schools, businesses and other organizations that are interested in learning more.

Our budget needs increase every year. Most of our girls are now in high school, which means more expensive tuitions. Some have to be in boarding schools, which are very expensive. So we hope that all of you will continue to support us and help find more donors in your circle of friends, family, and coworkers.

How You Can Help

1. Pass the word! Most of our supporters are friends who have been introduced by someone who knows our work. Next time you’re chatting with a friend or family member, please tell them a little about our organization, and point them towards our website: oneneweducation.org. We may also be able to travel to you to speak with a group. If you know a business that would be willing to have a stack of our brochures available, we’d be happy to send you some to pass around. You can also sign up for, or point someone else to our blog. The link to sign up appears on every page of our website. If there is a new post, it will come to you on Tuesday mornings. If there are no new postings, you will not receive an email from us. We do not send regular mail, nor do we give your name to anyone.
2. Be a Benefactor. Some of our girls have Benefactors who pay for their school costs every year. When possible, we put these people in contact with the girls, and act as a go-between for letters and other communication. It’s a great way to develop a personal connection as a real person who cares about her and wants to see her succeed (not just money coming from “somewhere”).
3. Donate! As the year draws to a close, consider donating (or donating again!) to One New Education. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donation is deductible to the fullest extent of the law. If you know an organization, business or foundation that is looking for a place to donate, please put us in touch with them. You can be assured that all donations will be used exactly as it says on our website: “To provide educational opportunities…ONE girl at a time.”

We’d like to close this year-end report and appeal with something that board member Leslie Grabel wrote about her impressions of the trip she and Christa took to Guatemala to meet Alicia and Maria and to see Alicia graduate.

Leslie with Maria (left) and Alicia in Guatemala (click to enlarge)

Thank you all, so much, for making Maria’s and Alicia’s education possible. We are so excited to be moving forward and helping more girls—all with your help. We can’t thank you enough, and we look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with all of you, and with all of our girls. We wish you the best for the holiday season.

Sincerely,

Christa Sadler, Birgit Buss, Leslie Grabel, Meghan Haslam, Janeece Henes, and Heather Mowl
One New Education
P.O. Box 22130
Flagstaff, AZ 86002
(928) 380-3359
www.oneneweducation.org
christa@oneneweduction.org
www.facebook.com/oneneweducation