An international internship is an exciting prospect for any student. But dual-degree graduate April Guy (MSW '07, MA '07) took things one step further, creating a micro-enterprise program that made it possible for 30 Kenyan girls to attend high school.
Guy, who simultaneously earned a Master's degree from the Graduate School of International Studies (now the Josef Korbel School of International Studies), chose her internship after learning about a girls' empowerment program in Meru, Kenya. Based on empowerment curricula she had developed for a previous job, she put together a culturally applicable program for the girls she would meet. But soon after her arrival in Meru, Guy realized there was a need far greater than her curricula could address.
"The second day I was there, a group of girls came to me and told me they had all been kicked out of secondary school because they couldn't afford it," explains Guy. "Elementary school is free there, but high school is not."
Over the next several days, girls approached Guy everywhere she went. Then a Peace
Corps worker passing through showed Guy a necklace made of paper beads that children
had made in a nearby village. "I knew people would pay good money for those," she
says.
A business is born
As news spread about the necklace campaign, girls flocked to Meru. Guy had originally hoped to raise enough money to send 10 or 11 girls to school, but one day, a group of 15 girls arrived from a village 30 miles away. "They pleaded with us to let them participate," says Guy. "We couldn't say no, but we couldn't make promises, either."
Guy spent ten minutes showing the girls how to make the beads, then sent them home with the agreement that she would go to their village in one week and collect their beads.
"I made the trip, which was completely insane," says Guy. "It took three vehicles and a five-mile walk to get there. It made me realize what they had gone through to find us."
Guy says that when she arrived at the one-room house, "there were beads everywhere all over the table, the floor, in bags. I could see the hope and faith on the girls' faces as they stared at me." And then one of the girls said a prayer.
"She was an orphan, her parents had died, and she raised vegetables for her food and to sell," Guy recalls. "And yet, she thanked God for her life. I fell on the floor and I cried. I knew right then and there that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing."
Achieving "the impossible"
Guy returned to Denver after seven weeks carrying 200 necklaces and the hopes of more
than 30 African girls. She sold the necklaces for $10 apiece, received another shipment
of necklaces and sold those, too. She also received checks from people who just wanted
to help put the girls through school.
By the time she graduated, she had raised $4,000 and--with additional help from people
who sold the necklaces in other countries--all 30 girls received scholarships to attend
high school the next year.
"April is a creative and energetic leader, willing not only to think outside the box but also to follow through with the actions required to see the impossible happen," says Prof. Michele Hanna. "I am very proud of her and her accomplishments."
Guy says she's not quite sure where her path will lead next. "But I know that something wonderful is going to happen. I just have to be open to the possibilities," she says. "That's how I got to Africa, and I feel like the next step will fall into place as well."
