jess•make•room

Pursuing a Post Peace Corps Passion Project

Hi friends!

I am thrilled to introduce you to the scholarship fundraiser I launched in September of 2024, to send five incredible Zambian students to college. After reading, I hope that you feel compelled to share this giving opportunity with others and to donate.

While completing my second Peace Corps service in Zambia, in 2023, I met and worked closely with five Zambian students who participated in school clubs I organized, they excelled academically, and demonstrated commitment to community service. They were so expectational that I invited them to become student-mentors for my programs. They served as camp mentors at an all-boys Leadership Camp I hosted and became debate club mentors to their junior classmates.

The five student-mentors, Israel, Isaac, Ezra, Sunday, and David, eagerly waited for donors to give to the fundraiser as I promoted to friends and family on social media. Unfortunately, I only raised enough to send one student to college. Although I did not reach my goal, over 50 people made donations to change one student’s life. An achievement that led to our first scholarship recipient, Sunday Makungu. He is now attending the University of Zambia as an Economics major. He is thriving and enjoying his freshman year. 

The remaining four student-mentors did not attend college. Their families can not afford the cost of tuition. This reality is true for many families. But, in Zambia and many countries on the continent of Africa, not only is pursuing higher education an obstacle, but finding employment is incredibly challenging. As a result, young people are forced to find informal and inconsistent odd jobs to earn income or settle for work that underutilizes their talents. Will you partner with me to equip my students with the knowledge and skills they need to join a competitive workforce and to join the rising number of Zambian youths creating solutions to establish employment opportunities in their communities?

Read More: An Opportunity to Make Five Dreams Come True

This year, my goal is to sponsor two students. After successfully sending one student to college, my team quickly learned that we would have failed at sending five students to school, even if we received our target of $ 15,000. We simply lacked the capacity and resources to adequately support five students.

We are much wiser this year and know that we can support a second student if we reach our target of $9,000. Each student needs $4,500 to attend college fully supported for one academic year. Sunday, our first scholarship recipient is our priority. The first $4,500 is allocated for his second year. I hope that we can raise an additional $4,500 for a second student (one of the four remaining).

Donate today and help me to continue making dreams come true.

You can learn more about our first year’s campaign from the previous GoFundMe page.