When the Republic of Somalia broke down two decades ago and became the #1 failed state, Jonathan Starr, an American former finance executive, knew that it was time to make a lasting change by establishing a school in region Abaarso of Somaliland. He donated half a million dollars and gathered a teaching staff in 2009, yet never knew then that his school influenced the lives of so many students eager to learn in Somaliland in the following years.
[u]Mission and Accomplishments[/u]
The mission of the Abaarso School of Science and Technology is to nurture "the academic, intellectual, and character development of promising Somali boys and girls, so they can effectively and ethically advance their society. "
We see their mission being accomplished year after year since the schools establishment. The school now accommodates students ranging from grade 7 to grade 12, with the acceptance rate of only 9% for seventh graders. These students have the opportunity to select from a wide range of extracurricular activities such as soccer and community service, and receive rigorous academic training that prepare them for the future.
In the past few years, many of these students had the opportunity to study abroad with scholarships. For example, for every one dollar donation, an Abaarso student has the opportunity to receive $12 worth of scholarships to higher education. Most of the students who graduated received scholarships to American universities and high schools, such as Deep Springs College, MIT, Georgetown, and Harvard.
The student accepted to Harvard was featured by [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-from-somaliland-to-harvard.html?_r=1]New York Times[/url] last year, and was the first student in 30 years to come from Somalia. He has 18 siblings, many of them illiterate, and had never used electricity at his home in Somalia. However, even under these harsh circumstances, he excelled by studying under a candle light.
[u]Givology Partnership[/u]
Givology partnered with Abaarso School by providing [url=https://www.givology.org/~tfscholarship/]scholarships[/url] for the top achieving female sixth grade students hoping to attend the school. Jonathan Starr, founder and headmaster, stated, "This Givology Scholarship will provide deserving but impoverished students the same future opportunities that are available to the most privileged children in the world. We hope more organizations follow Givologys lead. "
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Learn more information about Abaarso School through [url=http://www.abaarsoschool.org/]their website[/url] or [url=https://www.givology.org/~atech/]donate here[/url].
Thanks for reading!
By Macy Huang
01 AUG 2016