Rationale has a lot to be thankful for in 2016. After another successful end-of-year fundraising dinner at Ethiopian Diamond earlier this month, we're feeling especially grateful as we look back on all that has happened in the last twelve months. Every year we offer a year in review, and this year is no exception.
This year, we...
Next year we will continue to support our four scholars as well as launch our first collaborative research projects with Ugandan youth. Our founder and director, Matthew, will also be based in Uganda beginning in mid-2017, opening up new possibilities for seeing long-term collaborations come to fruition in new and exciting ways! Your support has meant the world to us. Will you consider contributing to our 2017 fund as part of your year-end giving?
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Happy New Year and welcome to Rationale's new website! After three and a half years we have grown out of our previous home and are excited to share with you our expanded, revamped website. We're proud to now have the space to share with you more information about our programs, our partners, and our development as we continue to work towards equitable access to education for young people in northern Uganda. We invite you to take a look around to learn more about what we do and how we're moving forward. Don't hesitate to send us a message if you have any questions or would like to get involved from Uganda or the United States and be sure to join our mailing list at the bottom of this page to receive all of our updates - it's the best way to stay in touch.
Rationale's 2015 Year in Review Each year we share an end-of-year review and each year it is humbling to take a step back and see the many ways in which our partnerships have grown and developed into what they are today! Rationale’s fourth year is no exception. We have continued supporting our existing students as they graduate from their respective programs and transition into the next stages of their academic and professional careers while building the foundation for the years that will follow. We are pleased to share with you our many accomplishments in 2015.
This year, we…
We thank everyone for your continued support. From all of us at Rationale, we wish you a very Happy New Year and can't wait to see what success 2016 will bring! Consider helping make that a possibility by donating to our year-end giving campaign using the button below. With gratitude, The Rationale Team Ethiopian Fundraiser Result From all of us at Rationale, thank you for joining us for such a successful end of the year dinner at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant in Chicago! We're very happy to announce that we raised more than $1,800, a part of which has made it possible to support an exceptional secondary school student who only needs to complete his last year of studies but has otherwise been financially unable to do so. This is a direct result of your generous support and we can't thank you enough! Take a look at the full gallery of our event pictures on Facebook here. Meet Our New Mentor Let us introduce you to our new mentor, Okello Lwanga. Okello is the face and voice of Rationale in Uganda year-round and provides essential services to our students and all other programs. Most importantly, this includes committed social support for all of our students for the duration of their studies and beyond, ensuring that all of our students have a regular support structure that follows through on their success. We thank our previous mentor, Ocitti David Okech, for all of his hard work over the past few years and wish him the absolute best moving forward. Stay tuned for a thorough profile of Okello on our new website, out at the beginning of the year!
Rationale's 2015 End-of-Year Fundraiser DinnerWe are proud to announce our annual end-of-year dinner for 2015 will again be hosted by our wonderful friends at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant in Chicago! It's been an exciting year for Rationale and we are eager to share updates about our programs, staff, and students. As a direct result of the money raised at last year's dinner, we were able to award a brand new scholarship to a young woman beginning her studies in science education at the university level. This would not have been possible without your generous support last year, and we look forward to another successful event this year! So come out, hear updates about our programs, meet our community of supporters, and enter to win a number of great prizes in a raffle! As always, 100% of funds raised will provide scholarships to secondary and university students and produce collaborative research projects in northern Uganda. Full event details and tickets can be found on our event webpage: www.projectrationale.org/fundraiser.html. You can also download a full flyer with details as a PDF or JPEG. We hope to see you there! Event Details Friday, December 11th, 2015 7pm-10pm Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant 6120 N Broadway, Chicago, IL A delicious, fresh selection of Ethiopian fare Buffet dinner and drinks: $40 Raffle Tickets: $5 for 1, $10 for 3, etc... Giving Tuesday Today is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to showing solidarity with the causes that are most important to you. Please consider purchasing your ticket to the fundraiser and raffle tickets in advance on the event website by clicking the button below.
You may also make a general donation to Rationale at any time here. Beginning your holiday shopping this Cyber Monday? Remember that if you're placing an order on Amazon at any time this holiday season they will make a donation to Rationale at no cost to you each time you check out with Rationale chosen as your Amazon Smile organization.
Be sure to use the following link and select Rationale (location will read Wheaton or Chicago, IL) as your default org when you check out: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/45-4954085. Stay tuned for some exciting non-retail related updates tomorrow! End-of-2014 Dinner Board members (L to R): Jaclyn, Malik, and Matthew Thanks to everyone who attended our end-of-the-year dinner at Ethiopian Diamond in December! Because of your generous giving, we collected a record amount of donations and are in a strong position to both continue supporting our current students and projects as well as begin to build the necessary foundation to expand our reach (more updates on this in the coming months!). None of this would have been possible without your kind support. On behalf of our board and the communities we work with: THANK YOU! 501(c)(3) Status For those of you who have not yet heard, Rationale is now a certified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in the United States. We're very excited about the many opportunities this new designation makes possible including access to grants that were previously unavailable to us. Feel free to reach out with any questions about what this might mean for your giving. Student Update 2015: Piloya Emily We're happy to announce that Emily has recently begun a paid contract position working as a midwifery in Ikotos, South Sudan for AVSI (an international NGO). In this new position Emily is able to use the skills she learned while completing her certificate in midwifery from Lacor to serve rural communities who otherwise do not have access to this care. We're so excited for all of the new experiences she is gaining before returning to Uganda to continue her studies next year! Year Three Rationale was founded as non-profit organization on March 22, 2012 as a response to the substantial amount of youth in northern Uganda who have been affected by the 20-year-long civil conflict and are currently unable to continue their studies without substantial support. From day one we committed to having a significant, lasting impact on a small number of youth rather than supporting many youth without substantial social support and we're now seeing the effects of this commitment. Over the last three years we have grown to include a full-time mentor and are now seeing our students complete their first level of studies with great success. For a wonderful example, please see the update about Emily above. We could not be happier to see the real, lasting success our first group of students are experiencing. It is because of their resolve to not only be the first in their families to acquire their current level of education but also to consistently perform at the highest level that they stand in such a position today.
As we look forward to the next year, we have many new announcements and exciting new developments to share in the coming months. Matthew will return to Uganda for two months beginning in May to undertake focused study of Acholi, the language spoken in northern Uganda. Jaclyn will join later in the summer to assist in evaluating our programs and our students' progress as we begin to make important decisions about our student cohort. Thanks for joining us on this journey - we can't wait to share more! Rationale’s third year was both exciting and eventful! We have continued to strengthen our commitments to our students and build our mission here in the US and in Uganda, as well. We are pleased to share with you our many accomplishments in 2014.
This year, we…
We thank everyone for your continued support. We are excited for what 2015 will bring! With gratitude, The Rationale Team Thanks to the ongoing support of our students, our friends, and our staff, 2013 – Rationale’s second year – was a remarkable one. We have strengthened our commitments both as an organization here in the US and in Uganda as a growing staple in the lives of our many partners. We’re proud to share with you our accomplishments in 2013. This year, we…
We have big things in store for 2014 and can’t wait to share them with you all as the time comes! With gratitude, Rationale Top Row, L-R: Gloria, Francis, David (mentor) Bottom Row, Center: Emily
Our fifth post in an ongoing series.
The Roundup: Examinations begin for students in Senior Four and Senior Six, with a full breakdown here Earlier this month, Uganda celebrated 51 years of independence: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Eventful-week-as-Uganda-turns-51/-/2558/2019758/-/g3k0wz/-/index.html The presidential adviser on political affairs, David Mafabi has called for a national consensus on how to tackle land disputes in the country in order to spur economic development: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/648008-national-consensus-to-solve-land-conflicts.html The Uganda Science Education Programme (USEP) has launched an academic progressive score card to monitor the quality of science learning and teaching in secondary schools: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/648465-uganda-science-education-programme-launches-score-card.html Identity in Contemporary Art Practice in Africa and the Diaspora: http://www.anotherafrica.net/art-culture/to-be-or-not-to-be-african-is-that-even-the-question The LRA Crisis Tracker’s Mid-Year Security Brief claims that active combatants are ‘tired of killing’: http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27850:kony-rebels-tired-of-killing-new-report&catid=34:news&Itemid=114 Can Radios Stop the Lord’s Resistance Army in Congo?: http://africanarguments.org/2013/10/10/can-radios-stop-the-lords-resistance-army-in-congo-by-scott-ross/ Ivory beyond the LRA: why a broader focus is needed in studying poaching: http://africanarguments.org/2013/09/17/ivory-beyond-the-lra-why-a-broader-focus-is-needed-in-studying-poaching-by-kristof-titeca/ Happy Reading! |
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