ITEC Girls Empowerment and Girls Arise Uganda participants share the desire and determination to have an equal opportunity for an education.
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, April 16, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ — On Saturday, April 6th a new initiative was launched by girls in Israel for girls in Uganda. Though over 2,000 miles apart the girls involved in the Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation Girls Empowerment program and those that are part of Girls Arise Uganda share the desire and determination to have an equal opportunity for an education.
Through the tremendous vision of Lisa Bogatin, an ITEC Foundation US-based board member and donor with both organizations, this cross-continent pairing was formed. “When I learned that the girls in Uganda didn’t have access to sanitary products, thus keeping them out of to school for at least one week per month which snow-balled into a high drop out rate, it broke my heart,” states Bogatin. “But also spurred the thought that girls in Israel also face extreme gender related challenges, but of a different sort.”
What resulted on that Saturday in April was an act of kindness, sharing and charity. The Girls Empowerment group at the Israel Tennis & Education Center in Jaffa, Israel organized a “Shuk Kah-Ten” (the equivalent of a yard sale in the US, where people bring items from their homes they no longer need and sell them) with the proceeds going purchase sanitary supplies for the Girls Arise Uganda program.
And while the girls in Israel have their fair share of issues to tackle daily, this provided a chance to see the hardships of others and feel good about being able to help. “We are hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful exchange with Girls Arise Uganda sharing our worlds with theirs, raising awareness and understanding,” states Jacqueline Glodstein, Executive Vice President of Global Development. “Empowerment is about being able to effect change, this project empowered our girls and taught them leadership skills; hopefully it did the same for the Girls Arise Uganda girls as well.”
“Our girls were so excited to know that girls from Israel were helping them, it’s so empowering to receive that kind of support, it means everything to them.”
— Sandra Abbo, President, Girls Arise Uganda.
“The girls here were so excited to know that girls from Israel were helping them,” states Sandra Abbo, President, Girls Arise Uganda. “It’s so empowering to receive that kind of support, it means everything to them.”
Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation is dedicated to empowering children through sport and education to foster lasting peace in one of the most turbulent areas in the world. Their goal is to teach children of all backgrounds how to live successful lives. “Through the skills learned on and off the court, we teach our children in an environment of inclusiveness, unity, respect, diversity and caring,” states Glodstein. “As we believe, this will set them on the path to building lasting peace within their communities.”
The focus of the ITEC is on empowering children everyday so they can become better human beings. Through its social impact and coexistence programs, a wide range of children are served, including: youth at risk, immigrants, along with children with special needs, from Autism and ADHD to Down Syndrome as well as those with developmental and physical disabilities.
For more information about this program or any of the other programs offered through Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation, please go to: www.itecenters.org.
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About the Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation:
The Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation (ITEC) is 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization that works tirelessly through the medium of sport to enhance the development of Israeli youth. Since opening its first center in Ramat Hasharon in 1976, the ITEC has helped over 500,000 children, many of whom come from outlying and underserved towns throughout Israel. The ITEC’s 14 centers stretch from Kiryat Shmona on the Lebanese border in the North to Beer Sheva bordering the Negev Desert in the South. https://itecenters.wpengine.com.
Israel Tennis & Education Centers Foundation
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