The Friends of Lurdes Mutola Foundation will hold a fundraiser to benefit the education of girls in Mozambique at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Palo Alto High School graduate Gabriel Fossati-Bellani, class of 1999, started FLMF three years ago with English teacher and Campanile adviser Esther Wojcicki, who is now the president of the foundation. The foundation’s main purpose is to raise money for programs that help to extend education for girls in Mozambique.
“[In Mozambique], girls’ education is not as valued as boys’ education and most of them [girls] come from rural families, so sometimes they expect the girls to just work in the home as opposed to go to school,” Wojcicki said. “We’re trying to make it really attractive for them because they get a high school education, and [in Mozambique] a high school education is equivalent to a college degree, so they will lead a much better life.”
FLMF is an offset of the Lurdes Mutola Foundation, started by Olympic gold medalist Maria de Lurdes Mutola to help fund sports programs for children in Mozambique. Fossati-Bellani, who holds a degree in economics from Princeton University, started FLMF after working with Mutola, whom he met while working for a Canadian Non Government Organization in Mozambique.
“I wanted to work for them [Lurdes Mutola Foundation] because they were a local organization, and I had immense difficulties working and liaising with staff in Toronto about the work we were doing in Mozambique,” Fossati-Bellani said. “I felt like . . . there was little importance given to the individual impact made [with the Canadian NGO]. On the other hand, the Foundation, with its focus on youth and girls in a finite geographic area, would allow me to work on programs with the necessary support from a local board and all locally based executive team.”
FLMF works primarily in educating girls in Mozambique through programs such as More School for Me, which provides scholarships for girls in Magude, Mozambique to attend secondary education for three years. So far, the FLMF has built a house for girls in Magude, and is currently working on building a second house.
Wojcicki believes that by educating girls, the foundation is positively affecting the entire nation.
“Studies show that if you educate the girls in a country, you actually have a far greater impact on how the whole country does because the girls take care of the children for the next generation, and so they impart those same values to their children and so there’s more interest in education and learning and leading a better life,” Wojcicki said.
The fundraiser will be a wine and cheese reception and will feature an address from Fossati-Bellani via Skype, who lives in Mozambique.
“I will be answering any and all questions about the programs in Mozambique and how the Friends Foundation in Mozambique has made our programs a reality,” Fossati-Bellani said. “I want to frame Mozambique and the work we do for all of our beneficiaries, as well as raise awareness around the need existing in Mozambique.”
Wojcicki says that fundraising has been difficult this year due to the state of the economy.
“Last year we raised over $100,000, and this year we haven’t raised too much money yet. It’s been a difficult year because of the economy. But we’re hoping to raise about $50,000, which would help us finish the second house.”
Wojcicki hopes that the fundraiser will increase awareness in the community.
“We’re just trying to get the message out there,” Wojcicki said. “We welcome people just to come. We’d like students to come and their parents to come. There’s no pressure to make a donation or anything. We just want to make it a community effort.”
The fundraiser will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 1481 Pitman Ave. in Palo Alto.