A little bit can go a long way

A couple years ago, there was a reported at my newspaper who was fun and quirky and pretty and awesome.

And then she quit.

I still miss her, but she's gone off to help make a difference by becoming a Peace Corp volunteer. Emily is in Senegal where's she's just starting a library for her village and now she is desperately trying to raise enough money to get computers as well.

Here is her plea:

Hi everyone,

If you’re broke stop reading now and forward this post to anyone with disposable income.

As you may or may not know, my main objective here is to provide my middle/high school with computers. Recently I learned World Computer Exchange is sending a shipment of computers to Senegal and if I had a paltry $1,725 I could get 33 computers for my school and community.

Now, $1,725 is slightly more than the average annual salary here, but my village has given about $200 and committed to maintenance, transportation, and installing Internet for the student’s use (I’m going to have a serious talk with admin. about porn and online scams).

I could expound on how amazing these computers would be for the students, but I’ve been told to keep these blog posts short. Still, most of these students have never used a computer before in their lives. If they can get the computers the school will incorporate computer classes into next year’s curriculum, allowing everyone access.

I’m under a bit of a deadline (seriously, I learned about this last minute when I visited a cyber café on a whim). So if you can square it with your conscience skip the church offering this week and click HERE. Please DO NOT forget to designate the donation to “PCV Emily Morris in Senegal.”

This is a sustainable project. All maintenance and Internet installation will be handled by the school. Seven teachers on staff will conduct training for the other teachers, who in turn will instruct the students. Frankly, I don't see a downside but feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

P.S. I could say that I encourage you to send this blog post to other people, but I'll quit dodging the issue - I'm begging you.

I know times are tight, but anything you can spare will go a long way.
Thanks!

UPDATE: Emily achieved her goal. Here's what she has to say:

On behalf of all Senegalese Peace Corps volunteers, I want to thank you for your incredible generosity. Thanks to your contributions, I was able to raise more than $2,000 in three days. The money keeps coming in and I've exceeded my goal!

I will now be able to create an additional computer lab in my village, and the excess money will go to provide children in other villages the same access. I tried to personally thank all of my donors, but some of you chose to remain anonymous, so please know you helped this become a success.

And Dawn in Paonia, please contact me! I want to send you my personal thanks, and the World Computer Exchange wants to send you a receipt.

Gratefully,

Emily Morris