Help a Marshallese scholar go to United World College Mostar

Iakwe and hello everyone,

This is Eline “Kiyo” Kaneko (17). She is kind and compassionate as well as ambitious. Her teachers call her a dedicated scholar with a bright future. She is the 2024 recipient of the United World College scholarship.

As such, Kiyo will participate in the International Baccalaureate Program. A successful completion of this program makes her eligible to attend many of the major universities in the world. In Mostar, she will be learning alongside students from all over, and will gain extraordinary knowledge about different cultures, religions, and ethnicities.

She wants to help her home and all Marshallese everywhere but to do so Kiyo needs to now leave the Marshall Islands to broaden her education. Her strong natural ability to make social connections will help her bridge the cultural divides she will encounter and make lasting friendships in a program like that of the UWC.

The Marshall Islands UWC National Committee is seeking support to send our scholarship recipient to UWC Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Marshall Islands is a group of coral atolls located between Hawai’i and the Philippines with a population of under 50,000. The Marshall Islands UWC National Committee was formed in 2011 and since then we’ve sent 17 students to UWC schools across the world (13 completed, 4 currently enrolled), including Canada, the United States, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom.

As a 2019 UWC ISAK Japan graduate and creator of this Gofundme campaign for Kiyo, my own experience was a life-changing opportunity: I learned Japanese, navigated cultural aspects of Japan and became secure in the discipline of my undergraduate career - Environmental Studies and Sociology.

All previous UWC scholars from the Marshall Islands have benefited from needs-based, nearly full scholarships from UWC schools; however UWC Mostar is only able to offer the committee a 50 percent scholarship package.

We need to raise the rest to help pay for tuition, room and board, study essentials, and an airline ticket to get from Majuro to Bosnia. Fifty percent of the tuition/room and board is USD$20,000 for the two year program.

Through this Gofundme, we hope to raise the funds for the two years Kiyo will be there. The donations would be sent directly to the school to pay for her tuition, room, and board. Any funds above this amount will support her airfare and related school expenses.

Dartmouth College Professor Emeritus, UWC board member and co-director of Youth Bridge Global, Dr. Andrew Garrod, has mounted many successful projects and research endeavours in both the Marshall Islands and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He and YBG are happy to spearhead fundraising efforts to support Kiyo’s continuing education.

Donations and sharing this post are the best ways to reach our target! Thank you for any help you can give.