Exploring opportunities during mEducation Symposium at Washington D.C

Xavier Project has been treading new ground in the USA this year with three staff members exploring opportunities there in October. CEO Edmund and Director of Tamuka in Kenya Dexter were invited to the mEducation Symposium in Washington D.C between 18^th and 20^th and on 21^st Edmund was joined by Mildred to meet several supporters on the East Coast between New York and Maine. At the mEducation Symposium Dexter and Edmund gave a short presentation on the work of Tamuka and Community Enterprise Cycle and met many donors and field partners who are working in the area of education in emergencies, particularly in refugee contexts. The Symposium has been run by USAID for six years now and is a fantastic opportunity for practitioners in this sector to get together. The format is dynamic and aims to avoid ‘death by powerpoint’, so everyone gets to meet, talk and share ideas – both conceptual and pragmatic.

Xavier Project is in the process of registering as a non-profit in North America and Edmund and Mildred went on to meet potential trustees as well as key supporters in New York city who are forming a working group to come up with ways to support Xavier Project there. Another key area of support is Westport Connecticut where Susannah Eykyn is based, the primary pioneer of the Xavier Project North America project! Susannah has a broad network of interested people and Edmund and Mildred had the chance to meet these people and glean ideas on how support could best be garnered in that part of the world. From Connecticut they set off for Rhode Island, to St George’s school in Newport where a ‘dress-down-day’ will be held to raise funds for Xavier Project in January. Rosie Eykyn, Susannah’s daughter is a student at the school and she gave Edmund and Mildred a tour of the school.

If you are based in New York, keep an eye out for Xavier Project events in the not too distant future. If you are in New York and would like to help, or if you have any other ideas for Xavier Project North America, please contact David d.boze@xavierproject.org and he will point you in the right direction – open to all!