International Partners for Education

Meet IPE, International Partners for Education.  IPE is a locally-organized nonprofit that supports AIDS orphans in Malawi while they attend secondary school, paying their tuition, cost of supplies, uniforms, and other basical essentials so that they can attend school.  Their mission is simple:


IPE’s primary mission is supporting the secondary education of girls in St. James Presbyterian Church of Blantyre, Malawi who have been orphaned (lost one or both parents) by HIV/AIDS and support them as they matriculate. 

In addition, IPE offers support to the Women’s group at St. James Presbyterian Church for emergency health and food needs of families with orphaned children and group’s administrative costs related to grant goals. 

Sometimes girls in secondary school might have needs you and I wouldn't think of.  Sometimes the most basic of necessities simply are not available to these young women.  One evening, while we were talking, a board member of IPE remarked that what the girls that they are supporting really need are washable cloth sanitary napkins so they don't have to miss school during their menstruation.  That might sound preposterous to some of us, who can simply run to the store and pick up any number of convenient, cheap, disposable--even fragranced! essentials to minimize or eliminate any incovnenience that our body's cycle may cause.  But what would we do with those sleek and fancy things if there were no waste or sewage management to deal with the garbage they create? I doubt we would use them at all; very soon they would become useless and we would find ourselves again fettered by our functions-- afraid of the embarassment of leaks and unable to spend eight hours a day at work or at school in a row.  Such is the situation of many of the girls that IPE supports, for whom missing important school days while menstruating is a sad fact of life.  

That's where RootsUp comes in.  Since we backlogged in homework: combing through demographics, making contacts, organizing action plans, and working to create partnerships and raise funds RootsUp decided to take on a more hand-on project to give our members and our group something to chew on for a while.  We have offered to hand-make cloth washable sanitary napkin kits (complete with carrying bags and changable inserts) for up to 15 of IPE's female students.  This project, challenging as it may be, has offered RootsUp a welcome break from the books and a great opportunity to get our hands busy doing something good for women.  

Half the Sky

Back in December RootsUp got involved with the Half the Sky Initiative at Rockford College.  We hosted several book discussions around the book Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn and helped promote events linked to the Half the Sky Initiative.  We met a lot of great people in the process-- people from all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives who are making a difference in this community and in communities around the world.

The Half the Sky Initiative culminated in a day-long visit to Rockford College by Sheryl WuDunn.  I was fortunate enough to attend a Q&A session with her in the afternoon.  Topics covered in the discussion delved deeper into subjects that were discussed in the book and many questions that I had gnawing on my brain after reading Half the Sky were answered or explained.  The only question I wanted to ask but didn't was how Sheryl and her husband have found balance between their very successful careers and their families.  It didn't exactly fit in the conversation, but I'd love to know nonetheless! 

Later in the evening was the patron reception with Sheryl which Rachel, Zoe, and I were graciously invited to attend by Jim and Pam Keeling.  Again, we got to meet and talk to some very interesting people who have dedicated their lives to bettering their communities. 

Finally, Sheryl WuDunn gave a public lecture which basically encapsulated the themes of Half the Sky, ending with the idea that we have all "won the lottery of life," by finding ourselves in a peaceful, bountiful, and comfortable position in life so we have a responsibility to watch over and care for those who have not been so lucky.  

Half the Sky was a great experience for RootsUp-- it really propelled us forward in our pursuits, connected us with a network of people who will be great resources for our work, and gave us something meaningful to work on while we worked on the background organizational structure of RootsUp.  We excitedly look forward to what will happen next for Half the Sky as the Keelings hope to bring the message of the book right here to Rockford by organizing networking opportunities for local nonprofits and other events that will strengthen charitable, community building, and women's issues work here in Rockford.