By JESSE GRAHAM
A MOVIE screening for a good cause will take place next Wednesday at the Memo Hall, raising funds for school scholarships in Kenya.
The 27 November screening of I am a Girl at the Memo will raise money for the students of St Catherines Primary School and Home in Nairobi, Kenya, to have secondary school scholarships.
Yarra Glen resident Esther Rijk has organised the fundraising event through the Rotary eClub of Greater Melbourne and said the money raised will offer an invaluable helping hand to kids currently living in slums.
“One full scholarship, for four years at a quality boarding school, is roughly $1200,” Ms Rijk said.
“It’s so little money when you think about it in the bigger picture.
“It’s the biggest thing to bring these countries forward and to break people out of poverty.”
Ms Rijk has worked with St Catherines Primary School and Home in 2012 and helped the school to establish its own greenhouse.
The greenhouse is being used to promote sustainable and improved diets in the children and allows the school to generate a profit through selling food.
However, she said the greenhouse won’t be profitable until next year and that money raised for scholarships would be able to help children graduating from the school this year, who cannot afford more education.
“People born in a slum usually stay in a slum – but if we get them to the city, there are more opportunities and a chance to get somewhere,” she said.
I am a Girl is a documentary which reveals the inequality experienced by females growing up in different corners of the globe from Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, the United States of America and Australia.
Ms Rijk said the film, which begins at 7.30pm, is inspiring and accessible for all ages and genders and encouraged anyone interested to come along and support the cause.
There will be another screening of the film on Thursday 5 December at the Alan Ross Centre at Billanook College in Mooroolbark.
For more information on the screening in Healesville, visit www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/ach/whats_on, call 1300 368 333 or visit the Memo Hall in Healesville.
Ms Rijk said she is also looking for long-term sponsors to the scholarship program.
For more information, or to donate to the scholarship fundraiser, email rijkesther@gmail.com.
