The Ladybug Project has launched its first annual supply drive to benefit our schools in Equatorial Guinea! Thanks to our exciting partnership with Simply Equal Education, we will be able to ship our school supplies at low-cost to our Central-West African recipients.

Starting today, five schools in Florida and several businesses will be collecting used school supplies from students as they clean out their lockers and prepare for their summer vacations. While it may not seem logical to send a half-used notebook to Africa, the success of this program through other organizations, and the lack of materials in some rural African schools, actually make the program rather ingenious. American half-used supplies being sent to Equatorial Guinea for underprivileged students to use, all at a total cost far below an African teacher's monetary burden of buying overpriced supplies in-country.

If you have supplies you would like to donate (no matter where you are in the world!), you can email us (ladybug.project.eg@gmail.com) or (if you happen to be in South Florida), we can organize a donation pick up free of charge. Supplies will then be repackaged and sent on a mid-July shipment to Equatorial Guinea.

So far we've accepted supplies from individuals in two states and in five cities; can YOU help US make a difference?

Many thanks to the FGCU Eagles Educate and Association for Childhood Education International who are fundraising for The Ladybug Project!

Starting today, a tip jar at the Pita Pit (Gulf Coast Town Center, Fort Myers, FL) will collect donations for our cause for the next three weeks. We hope that all of our supporters in the South-West Florida area make sure to stop by and see us represented!


If YOU would like to help our cause, please click here. Whether it be a whole group or one volunteer - we are happy to work with you!

Today, we are excited to announce our student scholar visited Florida Gulf Coast University and together with Ann, our FGCU Representative, was able to meet the university's Vice-President. Impressed by The Ladybug Project and our scholar, the university has agreed to work with us as we move forward to help the student matriculate into an American university for study towards an American bachelor's degree.

In Equatorial Guinea, the only university in the country offers just a three-year bachelor degree; a remnant of their colonial past. In order to gain higher levels of education, including an internationally recognized four-year bachelor, students must leave the country. A difficult feat by any means, The Ladybug Project has started a vigorous scholarship program which will provide the administrative and financial support necessary to study internationally to Equatoguinean university students, as funding allows.

For more information on our student scholar program click here, to learn about Equatorial Guinea click here, and to learn how you can help us, click here!

We are excited to announce that The Ladybug Project is now partnering with Simply Equal Education on our education projects in Equatorial Guinea!

Simply Equal Education was founded in 2008 and is a non-profit dedicated to advancing education in developing countries. With a track record of sending over 1000 pounds of supplies to Equatorial Guinea, it is certainly an asset to be working with such an successful organization.

With a joint mission to advance education in Equatorial Guinea, The Ladybug Project will be partnering with Simply Equal Education in sending supplies to our schools in Central-West Africa, and tentative plans have been discussed for a joint trip to Equatorial Guinea in 2012.

For more information on Simply Equal Education, and the inspiration behind their success, please visit their website: http://www.simplyequaleducation.org/index.html

Check out an article in today's Fort Myers News-Press (in print, and online) for a closer look at our Student Scholarship initiative, and Nguere, our first program recipient!

The article can be found online: http://www.news-press.com/article/20110514/NEWS0104/110513063/African-student-hopes-attend-FGCU-start-better-life

Kim, our Executive Director, and Ann, our FGCU Alumni Representative journeyed today to Miami International Airport where they picked up Nguere, our first Equatoguinean Student Scholar! For more information about our student scholar program, click here.

After journeying 25 hours through Madrid and finally arriving in America, he is excited to discover America and prepare for his upcoming TOEFL test. Starting Monday, Nguere will embark on an intensive, daily English course through the non-profit Literacy Council of Bonita Springs as well as weekly conversation courses through the Lee County Library System.

We will be sure to keep you posted as Nguere moves towards his goal of attending an institution of higher education here in Florida!

We've reached a huge milestone for The Ladybug Project! The first supplies were delivered to Equatorial Guinea!

School supplies were delivered today after they were flown into the country early last week by Jack, a volunteer who routinely flies between the United States and Equatorial Guinea!

Driven to the small village of Moka by Nguere, an in-country volunteer, notebooks, pens, and Minnesota Twins baseball caps were delivered for the 100 students of the Colegia National de Moka as well as the Pre-Escuela de Moka. In addition, we were able to provide much needed cleaning supplies and a table and four chairs for the Pre-Escuela de Moka, as requested by the teachers.

We have a long road ahead of us - the pre-school is in need of furniture and additional supplies, and the secondary school (the Colegia National de Moka) asked for sports equipment, reference materials, and maps of the world to decorate the school walls.

Thanks to everyone who made this supply drop-off possible! In the future, we hope to continue regular supply shipments, and as always we will make sure the aid is tailored to the schools!

We are proud to announce that our first shipment of supplies (destination: Moka school initiatives) are en route for Equatorial Guinea at this very moment!

It's taken many months for us to grow into the kind of organization that can support these efforts, but we've made it...and we've launched our first trial shipments!

As part of our goal to advance education in Equatorial Guinea, we collected wishlists from our two school sites with the intention of providing necessary aid as funds would allow. After several successful fundraisers, and a kind donation from the Minnesota Twins, we have been able to coordinate with volunteers at three different locations to ensure successful delivery. In order to arrive in Equatorial Guinea, supplies have to be shipped to Texas, where volunteer professionals will fly the supplies to Equatorial Guinea on a quarterly basis. Once in Equatorial Guinea, in-country volunteers receive the supplies and deliver them to our project sites.

In any case: a big thank you to our volunteer translator, Alistaire, for his Spanish authorship of our customs declarations letter, and many thanks to Lauren for volunteering to pack and ship our items from South-West Florida to Texas. Thank you to Jack for transporting the supplies, and Pedro for delivering them to our Equatoguinean schools!

As always, we will keep our posted on the success of this supply delivery...and all other Ladybug Project related news!