About
Our Mission
ASAH is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sheltering and educating orphan girls in the Republic of South Sudan by caring for their basic needs, enabling their attendance in school and tutoring them, teaching practical life skills, and protecting them from forced marriage at puberty.
Our Programs
ASAH Home and School for Girls
In December 2011, Deb Dawson returns to Duk Payuel, Jonglei State, Republic of South Sudan to oversee the final construction of the water and electrical work for toilets, showers, sinks, and lights. The 11 girls who started in our after-school program last July are anxious to move into the ASAH Home and School for Girls in January when construction is complete. Our goal is to nurture, feed, clothe, and educate these girls through secondary school, protecting them from forced marriages at puberty, giving them an opportunity to contribute to their communities through meaningful work, and allowing them to delay marriage and childbearing until a time of their choice. In South Sudan, a baby girl born today is more likely to die in childbirth than to graduate from primary school.
Our goal is to educate 50 orphan girls into young adulthood. Imagine the impact 50 educated women will have in their villages, their state, and their country, returning as doctors, nurses, politicians, pastors, computer technicians, social workers, midwives, businesswomen, journalists, and teachers. They will change the lives of those they touch, and together, they will change their world. $2000 provides sponsorship for one girl for a year. Shared sponsorships are available.
Kids in Kenya
ASAH provides 100% of the support for nine Sudanese orphans from Kakuma refugee camp (originally from Jonglei State, Southern Sudan) in Kenyan boarding schools. Seven boys and two girls attend primary and secondary schools in Nakuru, Kenya. One of them graduated from high school this term and will attend college in 2012. All are performing well in school. $2000 provides a year's sponsorship for one student.
Get Your Panties in a Bunch LUNCH
This ongoing program provides panties and reusable menstrual supplies to girls in Duk Payuel and neighboring villages, enabling them to stay in school at puberty. Because these girls have no underwear or hygiene supplies, when their menstrual cycles begin they fall behind when missing a week of school each month, and eventually drop out when they fall behind.
Our annual Get Your Panties in a Bunch luncheon in Fargo and Bismarck is keeping girls in school. Donations of new underwear (GIRLS sizes 6 to 16 or Women's SMALL), washable, reusable menstrual pads, and financial contributions has allowed ASAH to deliver more than 2000 pair of underpants and pads to girls in two villages in Duk County.
UNABLE TO ATTEND? Your FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS will help us ship supplies to Sudan. You can donate through PayPal or mail a check.
If you sew or are a member of a sewing circle, snap and belted sanitary pads make a great project. ASAH has gratefully received donations of these supplies and delivered them to Duk with the help of local midwives who educate the girls on their use. Links to patterns are below. The Circle pads have some particular advantages--less leaking and easier to wash and dry. The belted pads can be used if a girl doesn't have underwear. But any and all types of pads are welcome and used.