The Anne Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund (AJMSF) is supporting deserving teens in disadvantaged communities and helping keep a local woman’s legacy alive.
Anne Randall Johnson was a humanitarian, world traveler, loving wife, sister and mentor. Above all, she was passionate about changing the world. She dedicated her life to it. Anne spent over two decades working in humanitarian assistance. In recent years she returned home to Brattleboro, VT to begin a farming venture with her husband.
Anne died in the early morning of Christmas Eve 2013 after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. Her untimely death left a void in all who knew her. But Anne’s legacy and life story does not end there.
In the spirit of Anne’s life her former employer, Partners for Development, started a memorial scholarship fund for girls in Nigeria—a cause Anne cared deeply about. Since the start of the fund the AJMSF has supported 16 highly deserving girls- however many more worthy applicants are in need of support. The scholarship recipients are amazing, hard-working, dedicated and need our help in achieving their goals. They plan on becoming doctors, leaders and game-changers. With the fund’s assistance they are able to attend secondary school without having to worry about supporting their families.
Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school, more than 10 million. The majority of non-attendees are girls, particularly in the poorer north. Many parents opt to send their daughters to work rather than to attend secondary school. Without an education children are much less likely to escape poverty.
Studies have found that girls’ education brings a wide range of benefits for whole communities. Educated women are better able to care for themselves and their children – each year of a mother’s schooling cuts the risk of infant mortality by 5-10%. Children of educated women are far more likely to go to school creating positive effects on education and poverty reduction for generations to come. Each additional year of secondary school education increases a girl’s potential income by between 15 and 25%.
The AJMSF believes that education can change whole communities but we need help in funding additional scholarships. In honor of Anne, a Go Fund Me campaign has been established: https://www.gofundme.com/AJMSF
All donations will go directly towards supporting the fund’s endowment. Even $5-$10 can make a huge difference and change the life of a deserving girl.
“This scholarship has done a great thing in my life, and I thank the Anne Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund for providing me with assistance to enable me to go to school.”
-Temisan Ometie is one of 16 deserving scholarship winners under the Anne Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund. Partners for Development is proud to support this young lady in her dream of becoming a medical doctor. Temisan is 14 years old from Delta State, Nigeria. Her school has about 100 students and Temisan was ranked 2nd in her class. Because of her scholarship she is able to attend school without having to worry about supporting her family.
a wonderful woman, a wonderful cause
I knew Anne for pretty much her entire life. We were neighbors and friends since childhood and I can say with total assurance that her commitment, her work, her going forward in the face of danger in the countries where she worked, was incomparable. Danger was just a reality of the work, in her view.
When she became ill, she showed me more concern and kindness than most others as I struggled to come to terms with my own much less severe problems.
Anne knew the value of creating change from the individual to institutional levels and I ask those of you who can contribute anything to this worthwhile cause to please do so. I don’t know who submitted the original post here, but I “second” their thoughts and hope we can do right by Anne.