Gabi Ernest has had the opportunity to travel around the world—helping others. Yes, she has enjoyed seeing sights in different countries, but more than that she has been fulfilled through providing education, resources and services to developing nations.
Ernest and her mother, Ronda, have also started a non-profit organization to help build and increase their service efforts. Their organization, called Education for Generations, was started last May and has since raised enough money to purchase a plot of land in rural Kenya. Ernest has plans to build a school there to increase educational opportunities where most women and children do not attend school.
Ernest has been helping refugee families for nearly ten years, providing them with household items, childcare, English tutoring and adjusting to life in America. In 2007, she was able to travel to Nairobi, Kenya where she provided resources including HIV prevention education, basic healthcare and classroom and road improvements. Since then, Ernest and her mom have provided aid to 30 refugee families through their own efforts and their non-profit organization.
In 2010, Ernest was also able to travel to Xian, China, to help out at an orphanage. Her mother is a nurse practitioner, and together they provided medical supplies and formula to special needs children.
A double major in international studies and human development and family studies, Ernest feels that helping others is just a part of life. If a person can help someone else improve his or her life in some way, that person has made the world a better place, she said. After graduation, she hopes to see Generations for Education become self-sustaining and to get more young adults and children involved. “Our organization isn’t just about helping those in need. It is about educating people with the resources to help out, so they can see that there are multiple populations all over the world that could benefit from their help,” she said.
For more information on Educations for Generations, visit educationforgenerations.org or contact Ernest ateducationforgenerations@gmail.
(Photo: Gabby and her mom, Ronda)