“Why Africa?” is a question Rose Academies CEO Susan Stasi is sometimes asked about the nonprofit she founded a decade ago in 2014, to educate impoverished girls, the deaf, and the disabled in Africa.
“I didn’t pick Africa,” she says. “God picked Africa, and I’m grateful.”
Saving lives by “Empowering with Knowledge” is the mission of Rose Academies, which focuses its work in the East-African Republic of Uganda. It educates girls and women about healthcare and feminine hygiene and the deaf and disabled in vocational skills.
At a benefit held at the historic Adobe in Santa Clara on the International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11, Rose Academies and its Santa Clara University (SCU) collaborators unveiled “Omwana Thrive.” It is an app for Android tablets to educate low-literate mothers in poor, rural villages with life-saving knowledge about pre- and post-natal health care.
Like a comic book, the app has simple cartoon illustrations and few words. The SCU team wrote it in English, the official language in Uganda since 1962. Then the Uganda team translated “Omwana Thrive” into the commonly spoken language Luganda. “Omwana” means “child” in Luganda.
App developers Michele Parker, PhD, a Santa Clara University professor, and her SCU students Senit Ghile and Jamie Son presented the app to the benefit attendees.
“Saving lives half a world away, we are all empowered as we help each other,” said Parker. “My college students at Santa Clara University are being empowered, too, putting knowledge to work in a way that can’t be duplicated in a classroom.”
Parker pointed out that partnership with Rose Academies provides a unique benefit.
“There are good projects in global health, but so few get into the field,” said Parker. “These projects [with Rose Academies] get into the field immediately. We make a difference right away.”
“Omwana Thrive” is the sixth Android tablet app for girls and women that SCU and Rose Academies have collaborated on. They first partnered in 2019, piloting an app, which has been taken to more than 100 villages, to teach girls about menstruation and sexual development. The next health app will be for boys.
Rose Academies continues to look for innovative ways to meet rural village needs. For example, alcohol and drug abuse programs. And YouLearn Academies, offering a library of bilingual (English and Luganda) healthcare information to download for free.
Also, Rose Academies just launched a campaign to raise money to start a small village bakery: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1249014356281822/ Intern bakers will receive vocational training, and selling popular baked goods will sustain the program.
True, Africa is not the most likely destination for a petite, retired great grandma who works out of her home office in Santa Clara. But that is exactly where God inspired Susan Stasi to focus her energy and magnetic passion.
“Susan is a whirlwind who can do anything,” said Rose Board Vice President Jeanne Mahan. “Her heart and soul are in Rose Academies. I’m very proud and blessed that Susan brought me in.”
Stasi’s husband of 56 years, Joe Stasi, cooked most of the food for the October benefit.
“I’m very proud of what she’s doing,” said Joe, who has never been to Africa. “She’s amazing. To see her explaining things to our three kids and 10 grandkids — and 7 great grandkids — is heartwarming.”
“It’s wonderful to know that there are global problems that can be addressed by American nonprofits run by ordinary people like us,” said Board Secretary/Treasurer Carol Buchser.