Dear fellow-SEO alumni,
Thank you for your interest in supporting SEO Africa! We have been overwhelmed by the responses and feedback to the email that Michael Osheowitz sent out a few weeks ago. Between responses to that email and alumni who have verbally committed to helping us, we have close to 300 people that have shown strong support for SEO Africa.
We’ve had alumni based in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda who have said they are interested in helping spearhead the development of the program into those countries once we get the Ghana program up and running; alumni that want to volunteer with us this summer; and, even non-alumni who have been forwarded the email and have expressed interest in helping us!
Now as we begin the dialogue with each of you, I wanted to share with you why we decided to spearhead this effort to build SEO Africa.
Firstly, because like all of you, we have experienced first hand what an opportunity like SEO can do to impact a person’s life, and we felt it is important for us to give back and create a similar opportunity for someone else.
But perhaps more important than giving back to SEO, we also feel very strongly that having SEO in Africa is one of the ways we can create long-lasting positive change on the continent. As individuals, each one of us can never in our lifetime solve all the problems that exist in Africa. But collectively, we are in a position to build an organization that can last beyond us, that can instill in future generations of young Africans the values around work ethic, integrity and serving their communities. And while doing that, if we support them with mentorship and resources to achieve success in their careers that they otherwise would not have without SEO Africa, then these future leaders can be empowered to later create solutions to improve their communities. This potential impact that we as a group can have on not just one individual, but on a community, a country and a continent is what truly excites us about developing this effort.
Thank you all for your support. I’ve attached a photograph of the reunion we had when Michael visited Accra in November; this is the group of alumni on the ground that are helping build the program in Ghana. We are very excited about your involvement with SEO Africa and we wish you all a wonderful 2013!
Sincerely,
Edgar Seah
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Africa