The Girls Scholarship
10% of every art purchase is donated to help girls across the world go to school.
I believe we, as women, grow our roots deep and strong when we hold one another up together. That is why 10% of every dollar spent on artwork is donated to a girls' scholarship fund through Village Schools International. This means your art purchase ensures a girl across the world will get to go to school.
Thank you for being the roots of change!
In their words…
“We believe it is a matter of justice that each and every girl gets the chance to go to school.
All of our schools are built in rural areas and are meant to provide access to everyone – no matter how poor – to get to go to school. While the lack of schools disproportionately affects the rural poor, it is even more difficult for girls to get an education. It is not that parents do not love their daughters, it is poverty that will force a parent to choose their son over their daughter; we therefore offer ~$75 scholarships to all of the girls from these villages (about two-thirds of tuition) so that every parent can send their daughter to school. It has always been our goal to have at least 50% of our students be female. Currently, 8,180 (52.2%) of our students are girls; we recognize this success is in large part to the scholarships.”
- Village Schools International
Why a girls scholarship?
This matter is personal for me. From as young as I can remember, I was told, “If you want to go to college, we will help you however we can, but you are going to have to pay for it.”
My parents didn’t say this because they didn’t love me, it’s because financial scarcity is real. Throughout college I worked several jobs, one of which was painting and selling portraits (my first art business!). However, I struggled immensely, every semester unsure how I would pay for the next. But no matter how hard the days were, and there were many painful days scrubbing toilets, I knew education was my ticket to financial freedom. After college, I dropped painting completely and spent the next 6 years chasing security and ended up with a six figure job in Big-Tech. And then…God turned it all upside down when I felt the call to be an artist.
Stepping away from financial security to become an artist was NOT in the plan. My earliest memories with art always include someone mentioning, “Well, its really hard to make it as an artist.” And I experienced that reality in college, painting to eat is not for the faint of heart. But I also serve a God who both moves mountains and cares deeply about girls going to school, and in his poetic kindness, has chosen to use artwork to bring those two together.
I am personal friends with some of the Village Schools International team, and I’ve never been more impressed with a missions organization. Their commitment to create sustainable solutions, honor the people they serve, and ensure every boy and girl receives an education has humbled and challenged me a hundred times over.
Thank you for honoring my artwork, my poetry, and in turn, my creative heart. Thank you for being a part of change!
All my love, Andrea