Toutes à l'école

The Marie Claire rose continues!

The Marie Claire rose is a true miracle. 2 years ago, it was just an idea (albeit genius!) that appeared one dream-filled day: sell roses to provide education to young girls too often at risk from prostitution and arranged marriages. Since then, with the money raised school buildings have been renovated in Africa, a school built in Cambodia and pupils in France are doing the brilliant studies they deserve to be… so, from 3rd to 8th March continue to give the Marie Claire rose and together we can save thousands more young girls…

A rose that grows schools

All these girls will become liberated, educated women able to pass on the best to their children. Future generations’ ability to break out of the cycle of poverty, ignorance and obscurity depends on this transfer of knowledge. It is an essential challenge for the future of emerging countries. Our patrons, news journalists from the major television channels have understood this. With true integrity, they wanted to see with their own eyes what our programs are achieving. Claire Chazal, Laurence Ferrari, Elise Lucet and Mélissa Theuriau came with us to Cambodia to visit the Happy Chandara School set up by "Toutes à l’école" with funds raised from the rose campaign. Marie Drucker wanted to meet the children in France awarded scholarships and all are watching with interest the progress of our partner CARE France’s construction of 15 school units in Benin.

So you see, to keep making these ambitious programs happen we need you, and we hope you’ll give a rose to those close to you and make schools grow. For each flower sold at 3€, 1,50€ will be donated to the associations involved. You can find the roses between the 3rd and 8th March at interflora florists, in the 650 franprix stores in Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux, in Caroll stores (in France and in French speaking Switzerland) and in Botanics shops. And because it would be unthinkable to leave a student high and dry, or to let them return to the fields once they’d begun their studies, the Marie Claire rose must never wane. Let’s dare to have a dream; In it we plant the rose throughout the world, this time to save hundreds of thousands of young girls. We have 29 foreign editions of Marie Claire magazine across five continents. Next September, Spain and the UK are joining us. The dream is becoming reality.

Tina Kieffer
www.la-rose.fr

Because they don’t take their responsibilities lightly, Laurence Ferrari, Claire Chazal, Elise Lucet and Mélissa Theuriau went to Cambodia to see "Toutes à l’école’s" work there for themselves. They returned moved and delighted. Here, they tell their stories:

LAURENCE FERRARI (CANAL+)
“It wasn’t my first humanitarian trip as I’m also an ambassador for SOS villages d’enfants, but it was my first time to Cambodia. When I went into the Happy Chandara school I felt a wave of love. So many little faces lighting up, it really is a universal language. The reason I joined the Marie Claire rose campaign is because I believe wholly that women most transfer the best to their children. It’s understandable that people want to know where their money is going. Now I’ve seen with my own eyes, I can assure people that they are right to believe us. 190 young girls are receiving education instead of working in the fields. 100% of their needs are met, what we are doing there is real. Despite the huge poverty there is an incredible vitality in Cambodia. There’s no doubt that the Happy Chandara children are going to multiply this by ten, to become doctors, teachers, judges….and give back to their country threefold what we have given to them. My commitment is for the long term. Children’s rights are something that move me. I sponsor one of the Happy Chandara children and I visited her house which is crumbling into the river. The mother and her nine children live on 20 USD per month. "Toutes à l’école" are going to rebuild the house. When I see inside her schoolbook, knowing where she lives I say to myself, this is really really worthwhile. That’s my fight”.

CLAIRE CHAZAL (TF1)
“I am often solicited by associations. I often get involved, but from my office. As an official patron of "Toutes à l’école" I was pleased to go to the field. Taking my son François made the whole trip all the more emotive. It bought him so much to meet children living another reality to his. We visited the families, the girls often living in slums, in the mud, many of them working….In the Happy Chandara school the girls are receiving excellent teaching and above all, they are happy. They are so starved of knowledge and tenderness. I discovered what "Toutes à l’école" has achieved over 2 years: a school full of life, committed teachers, it’s staggering! With Sereivouth, Happy Chandara’s social assistant, translating I explained what I do for a living to a class of children in CE1 (year 10). They asked me loads of questions. They need female role models. Everywhere we met families fallen victim to prostitution, to HIV/AIDS. The country still needs to get back on its feet but at the same time, families are ready to invest in education for their daughters, they come to the evening classes at Happy Chandara offering literacy to adults. I really liked the link between the school and the village. One thing is certain: I will go back to Cambodia. My commitment, like that of the school, is a long term one.”

ÉLISE LUCET (FRANCE 2)
It was an incredible trip. I created an association to save Mauritanian manuscripts, I battled for 10 years to get that project going. Like all journalists, I like things to be concrete and to happen quickly. In two years, "Toutes à l’école" has educated 200 young girls, and will continue to do the same for 100 more each year. Here, they learn to stand on their own feet, and the families don’t feel indebted. It’s not like a school converting the children to little white children. While I was reporting from Indonesia after the Tsunami, I was disgusted to see Adventist church school being built! At Happy Chandara, the Khmer culture is respected, and the school is well integrated into the community. My mother is a school director and she always said to us “Girls, education is freedom”. I believe 100% that the development of emerging countries will be through their women. It is they who can move mountains, and with gentleness. I was amazed by the before and after photos of the Happy Chandara students. The worried little faces are glowing today. They are beautifully full of fun and happiness. I also respect the schools pragmatism in adding English to the official Khmer program and later on, French. To be at least bilingual is imperative for the future of these children. I like the commitment, not only the when it comes to the school but also that we, the association’s patrons are committed for the long term. As journalists we will go ourselves to monitor progress, press reports are not enough. I will definitely go back.

MÉLISSA THEURIAU (M6)
My stay in Phnom Penh was touched by a rare and beautiful meeting: With Hoa, 70 years of age and vice president of "Toutes à l’école". From the moment we arrived it was she that stood out for me. Her discretion, her kindness, her perfect French, her humour too… In short, Hoa became our guide and it is she that I will make the key thread in the documentary I am doing for M6. The Khmer Rouge army took everything Hoa had, her husband, her parents, her house, her friends…. She returned to Cambodia 10 years ago and she has completed dedicated herself to helping others. It was Hoa who gave up her land so that the Happy Chandara School could be born. Together, we visited the girls and their families. With pride, they showed us their school note books piled neatly on what was used as a table. I also took part in some lessons given by the young teachers from France. Their patience, their imagination to make the lessons interesting for the children impressed me very much. I want to show all my admiration for Mélanie, Laurence and Marie, teachers who have travelled far from home to take on the most incredible of challenges: to give teaching to these young girls and give them the freedom tomorrow to be able to choose their own destiny.”