We have just applied for a district matching grant to create an English language immersion class for girls in Gueoul, Senegal.
Through our Rotary foundation, gifts from Larry Matten and Josh Staller, and support from the Wheat Ridge Rotary Club, we are proposing a grant that, when matched, will yield $8,000.
Our member Judy Beggs, for whom the girls of Gueoul are her passion and love, is the organizer of this project, of course.
In 2010-2011, our club developed a strategic plan, based on a Visioning Process, that included a Grand Idea of building on the education foundation in Gueoul by looking for ways to get these girls to college. Incredibly, but fueled with Judy’s passion and tenacity, a branch of a prestigious university is being built in Gueoul, and our scholarship girls are guaranteed entry, if they meet the requirements.
One of those requirements is a recent change – English competency, and that’s where the current grant application enters the picture. The Gueoul girls don’t speak English.
DU talent is on board with this project, too. A DU intern and an experienced English as a Second Language teacher will go to Senegal to teach local teachers how to conduct total immersion, conversational ESL. Next year, DU is considering sending 12 interns to work with the total immersion ESL summer school, funded by DU.
Our club is blessed to be able to do international work with one of our own members there, on the ground, making sure things go right.
