Center for Civic Leadership

January 29, 2017

Dear (PERSONALIZE WITH EACH RECIPIENT'S NAME),

This summer, Rice University’s Center for Civic Leadership (CCL) will sponsor international service trips to Jamaica and Uganda. Rice University students, including myself, will work side-by-side with a local community outside the continental U.S. For many of us, this will be our first exposure to this community. The two weeks of cultural immersion will be an unforgettable experience for all of us!

(PICK THE PARAGRAPH FOR YOUR TRIP: Uganda and Jamaica-DELETE THE OTHERS)

Our trip will is focus on menstrual health and women’s empowerment in Uganda, East Africa. This public health project will target women’s health issues, with a specific focus on adolescent girls and menstrual health challenges. It is estimated that girls in the developing world, particularly in the East African Region, lose approximately 2.5 months of school annually as a result of complications due to menstrual health and hygiene. This puts girls at a higher risk for truncated education, resulting in continued cycles of poverty, reduced opportunities and increased susceptibility to domestic violence, manipulation and exposure to diseases such as HIV/AIDS. This project seeks to investigate this social issue through work with our host agency to evaluate past initiatives aimed at addressing this problem and through service work designed to enhance or supplement these.

Our trip will focus on youth empowerment in Petersfield, Jamaica. Amizade, the organization we will be working with, has been partnering with the Petersfield community since 2001. Our role in Jamaica will be to help in the preparation and operation of a yearly summer youth camp. We will live in homestays, learn from local leaders and assist with the summer camp.

I applied to go on this trip...

(FILL IN INFORMATION ABOUT WHY YOU CHOSE TO APPLY FOR THE TRIP AND WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH BY PARTICIPATING)

We are extremely excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with and learn from another community. We are faced, however, with the great task of raising the funds necessary for the trip and are working in as many ways possible in the short time we have: washing cars, cleaning up after baseball games at Rice, and selling baked goods, just to name a few. Despite our many efforts, we still need help. The total cost of the trip is anticipated to approach $25,000, so any help that you may offer will be greatly appreciated. You may make a donation by check using the enclosed form and sending it to the address on the form. On-line donations may also be made by credit card, please see details on attached form. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Thank you for your time and please contact me at the number below if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME)

2017 Group Summer Service Participant

(YOUR PHONE NUMBER)

Rice University • Center for Civic Leadership - MS 200 • PO Box 1892 • Houston, Texas 77251-1892

Phone: 713-348-4970 • • http://cic.rice.edu