News & Announcements

Second EBZEF You Tube Video Online

October 15, 2007

EBZEF Table Informs Community

February 22, 2008

EBZEF Board members and volunteers offered an informational display at the African Market in the Student Center at Willamette University during the third annual Africa Week celebration. The warm response of interested community members, potential volunteers, and generous donors helped to make the festivities productive.

EBZEF Student Volunteer Presentation

February 20, 2008

EBZEF student volunteers presented “Students Empower Students: Educate Girls in Africa” as part of Willamette University’s Africa Week celebration. WU graduate student Angela Wanak (Graduate Schools of Management/Law) spoke of the crisis of education in Africa, of the difficulties establishing gender equality in who receives schooling, and of the international initiatives addressing this issue.

Undergraduates Acacia McGuire and Carlee Kondo spoke of what EBZEF is doing to provide scholarships for women and how they both are helping through their volunteer work to “make a difference.” They encouraged other students to find ways to participate in helping Beth’s Girls achieve a new dream for the future.

EBZEF Featured in the Statesman Journal

October 15, 2007

EBZEF was featuered on the front page of the Statesman Journal on Monday, October 15. Read the article online

Peace Corps to Honor EBZEF

August 30, 2007

Jody Olsen. Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, will speak at a recruitment session for senior volunteers on Tuesday, October 16th, from 7-8:30 in the Salem Public Library, Loucks Auditorium. Featured will be a panel of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served after the age of 50. Director Olsen will honor EBZEF for the work we are doing in Zambia.

Mary Lundeba to Visit

August 28, 2007

Beth’s Girl Mary Lundeba (see web page) will visit the Pacific NW for the first time to join us for the Zambia Night celebration. Mary was Beth’s aquaculture trainer for the Peace Corps. After receiving her MS from the University of Malawi on scholarship from EBZEF, she is currently in her second year of PhD studies at Penn State. Meet and talk with Mary about life in Zambia on October 3rd at the Blue Pepper Café.

Second Annual Zambia Night Slated

August 24, 2007

Mark your calendar for October 3rd from 5:30-8:00 at the Blue Pepper Café. EBZEF will join Salem’s First Wednesday celebration by recreating the experience of Beth’s Zambian village with music, displays, presentations, videos, authentic food, photos and letters from Beth’s Girls, and much more. Support our fall fund-raising event and help send more girls to school.

First EBZEF You Tube Video Online

August 15, 2007

Evan Stuart, photo editor from Portland, Oregon, has created EBZEF’s first You-Tube Video.

Let us know how you like it!

EBZEF Welcomes New Board Member, Officers

July 26, 2007

Jennifer L. Roney, past Associate Dean of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University and current visiting professor for the professional MBA program, has joined the EBZEF Board as Treasurer. She is the principal of reframe Management Consulting. Karen Chittick is the new Board Secretary.

Beth’s Girls’ Booth at World Beat Festival

June 22, 2009

Join us on June 30-July 1 in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the World Beat Festival at the Salem Riverfront Park. Our EBZEF booth will be in the African Village. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Stop by the booth to say hello.

Enjoy international food and entertainment, the Children's Parade, the Parade of Nations, fireworks, Dragon Boat races, and much more. For further information, visit the World Beat Festival website. See you there!

Help! EBZEF Success Needs Support

April 14, 2007

Current figures indicate that EBZEF is supporting a total of 83 girls with scholarships for 2007. In 2006, the number was 66. In 2005 it was 44. There are currently 41 girls in 8th grade (as opposed to 26 in 2006). In addition, 6 girls have passed their exams into 10th grade (as opposed to 5 in 2006). We also have two high school graduates for the first time this year. Prudence Masanyinga was the first to graduate three years ago.

The surge in numbers may be due to our visit in August, to having Prudence with us as a role model, and to the tutoring program instituted by EBZEF last year. We are pleased by the success of the Beth's Girls program. However, now we need to fund raise on a larger scale to be sure we do not have to turn girls away. If you have ideas for raising such funds, please let us know?

EBZEF Welcomes New Board Member

April 3, 2007

Karen Chittick, Associate Director for Academic Services at Tokyo International University of America, joins EBZEF as a new board member in spring 2007. As an all-volunteer, working board, we welcome Karen’s willingness to help us support Beth’s Girls.

EBZEF Featured on Willamette Stories Blog

March 29, 2007

Nadene Steinhoff’s moving article has been published on the Willamette University Stories blog. It is also featured on the Willamette University homepage in circulation with five other stories.Read the article

The story has also been picked up on the internal Peace Corps website.

Successful First Year for EBZEF

March 29, 2007

The EBZEF spring Board meeting on Thursday, March 29th, 2007, was a celebration of the successful completion of the start-up year for EBZEF. We look forward to continuing our support of Beth’s Girls and to completing construction of the library. The year ahead looks promising as we maintain solid partnerships with World Vision Zambia and the Peace Corps Partnership Program.

EBZEF Receives 501(c)(3) Status

March 16, 2007

Celebrate with the Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund on receiving 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. Our application, pending since June 30, 2006, went through smoothly with no questions asked thanks to the expertise of attorney Kevin Mayne.

All donations are now tax deductible, retroactive to our date of incorporation on March 8, 2006. Donations go directly to Beth’s Girls, as administrative costs are funded by family contributions.

Salem Rotary Supports EBZEF

March 14, 2007

EBZEF has received a $2,000 grant from the Salem Rotary Club’s Literacy Committee to buy books for the memorial library in the village of Lumwana West. Salem Rotary hopes to add matching funds through Rotary International. EBZEF is privileged to join Rotary’s work to establish literacy around the world.

Local Young Women Support Beth’s Girls

March 3, 2007

Eleanor Ellis and Rosemary Dorman from South Salem High School’s Rotary Interact Club are spearheading a fund-raising effort for EBZEF with other local high schools. It is inspiring to see young women who have so much working to assist the girls of Lumwana West who have so little to achieve an education.