As my term as President comes to an end, I want to thank all of you for your support to Margaret McNamara Education Grants, and ask that you continue with Madeleine de Kock, who will take over on July 1st and during these uncertain times.
June is not only the end of our fiscal year, but also a time of graduation. We were happy to fete the graduation of several grantees this month (you can read these stories at MMEG’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts), and I personally watched my son’s university graduation on Zoom. With heightened awareness of socially discriminatory practices in the United States combined with the search for making the best of our recent socially distanced practices, I was reminded of how my own mother was one of many Japanese Americans “evacuated” out of Portland, Oregon during World War II. Her family lost the laundry where she was working and all other material possessions in the forced relocation. But my mother was also given the opportunity to go to college (in Idaho), which she otherwise could not have attended. She subsequently converted from Buddhism to Christianity, went to Japan and taught kindergarten, before meeting her future husband (my father) at a post-war peace conference.
I didn’t grow up hearing much about the family’s internment experience, but certainly got an earful about the value of university education in opening future doors! No surprise, then, for my personal support of MMEG and for the recent US Supreme Court decision to uphold DACA which gives hope that more young people will be able to continue their university education and career development without fear of deportation.
Within MMEG, we are making adjustments to the reality affecting us as much as many other organizations. We are not likely to have our annual Arts & Crafts Fair at the World Bank Main Complex, and seek your suggestions for alternative fund-raising ideas as well as your ongoing financial support of our work and our mission. While we are budgeting for fewer grants next year, we are determined to continue the existing programs. In fact, we are currently receiving a healthy number of applications in both the Latin America and South Africa programs!
In other words, please help us to continue supporting extraordinary women around the world in their university studies!
