|
ABOUT THE GYF SPEAKERS
Mary Jean Eisenhower ~ Deepa Willingham ~ Beatrice Biira
Ms. Mary Jean Eisenhower
 Mary Jean Eisenhower was born in Washington, D.C. during her grandfather, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first term in office as President of the United States. She was christened in the Blue Room of the White House and grew up in nearby Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Her family had a home with property abutting the Eisenhower Farm, where President Eisenhower eventually retired. The Eisenhowers were a very close-knit family and saw each other every day.
Mary attended several schools in Pennsylvania until her father, John, was named as US Ambassador to Belgium. She lived in Brussels with her family from shortly after her grandfather’s death in 1969 through 1972.
Since joining People to People International in 1998, Mary has traveled extensively throughout the US, Africa, Europe and Asia, including a visit to Morocco to represent her family to the King on the 50th anniversary of the historic ANFA conference. She also traveled through the lands of the D-day invasion during the centennial anniversary of her grandfather’s birth. There she had the privilege of traveling with and meeting many of the European veterans who served with her grandfather. Missions abroad have included everything from meeting first families to distributing food stuffs in developing countries to cultural and humanitarian exchanges.
In 1999, Mary started the People to People International Friendship Fund (IFF) inspired by an orphanage she visited in Morocco. The fund is designed as a way for people to help the friends and facilities they visit throughout the world and to help the PTPI Chapter network assist each other. To date, the fund has provided assistance to causes such as the Global Humanitarian Eradication of Landmines; Children’s Mercy Hospital in London, England; Earthquake relief in India; disaster relief to victims of September 11, 2001 and their families; support of underprivileged schools in China and Sri Lanka; a home for leukemia victims and their families in Cuba; a library project in Vietnam; and Friends of Egypt, among many others. One hundred percent (100%) of all funds received through the International Friendship Fund go to the efforts and projects as specified by the donors.
After September 11, 2001, Mary’s focus intensified toward getting young people from around the world together to learn about each other and conflict management. Her vision came to fruition with Peace Camp 2003: An Evolution of Thought and Action and The Global Peace Initiative. Both the Peace Camp and Global Peace Initiative brought people from diverse areas - more than 30 nationalities - together in Egypt to discuss issues and reach a better understanding of their unique and individual cultures. Co-hosting this special event was H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mary’s grandfather, founded People to People International on September 11, 1956. After several years of volunteer work with PTPI, Mary has served as its Chief Executive Officer since January of 2000, currently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mary joined PTPI hoping to carry on her grandfather’s dream, now it has become her life’s work and she carries the mission and the founder’s dream ardently as her own.
Mrs. Deepa Willingham
 Mrs. Willingham, a naturalized citizen of the United States, was born and brought up in Calcutta, India where she obtained her primary (under the stewardship of Mother Teresa, who was her teacher), secondary and undergraduate educations. She was the Valedictorian of her graduating class obtaining a B.Sc. (Honors) degree from the Calcutta University. Following graduation she came to the United States to obtain graduate degrees from Miami University in Oxford, OH and the University of Wisconsin.
In addition to health-care management and entrepreneurship, in the 1960’s, Mrs. Willingham served as lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and the Santa Barbara City College and was a teacher/coordinator of special educational programs for the federally funded Head Start program. She was involved with educating ‘at risk’ high school students from the inner city in Milwaukee, Wisconsin designing and implementing innovative teaching techniques to achieve educational goals. She was also a founding board member of Cornerstone House of Santa Barbara, an organization dedicated to non-institutionalized care and education of severely handicapped children.
Mrs. Willingham dedicates her time, effort and resources and participates in many local and international projects - building Pisos (cement floors) in Mexico; National Polio Immunization Day in India; establishing girls’ literacy and village rehabilitation programs through the establishment of the Ptyalin Learning Center in Calcutta, India; supporting girls’ education in the Philippines; and escorting US high school and college students for humanitarian educational trips to the Ptyalin Learning Center. She also represented Rotary International at the 51st Commission on Status of Women at the UN in February of 2006 and was the keynote speaker at the spouses’ Plenary Session at the 2008 International Assembly.
When asked why Mrs. Willingham started this school for girls in the country of her birth, she answers, “It is the fulfillment of a life long dream…to give back the gift of education, particularly to girls. Girls’ education in many severely poverty stricken areas like India, is still a luxury for far too many and it is certainly not a given. And yet when girls are educated, they grow up to be responsible citizens, changing not only their own lives but also the lives of their children and their communities. When it is such a win-win situation, how can I not do it?”
She further asserts her dream to build the first proto-type Piyali Learning Center in Calcutta by 2009-2011 and then duplicate many such centers all over the world. “I want to change the face of poverty one child, one community, and one village at a time.”
Ms. Beatrice Biira
 In 1992, Beatrice’s mother received one of the first goats provided for Kisinga, Uganda through Heifer International. After the doe gave birth, the family had baby goats and milk to sell, and with those funds were able to send Beatrice to school. She was 9 years old when she went to first grade. She did well, and was able to move ahead. Through a scholarship, she transferred to the Molly and Paul School in Kampala in Primary 5 and lived with relatives.
In 1997, a study tour game through Uganda and spent time with Beatrice. An author and illustrator were members of the tour, and wrote a
children’s book inspired by Beatrice’s story called Beatrice’s Goat. The book was published in 2001 and rose to #8 on the New York Times Children’s Book List. The success of the book led to a book tour, which brought Beatrice from Uganda to the United States. During the course of the tour, Beatrice visited 13 states in 40 days, speaking to 128 different groups. She was featured on six local TV shows, and ended her tour with an interview by Charles Gibson on Good Morning America.
A whirlwind followed. In 2002, Beatrice was invited by The Oprah Winfrey Show to participate in a tribute to actress Susan Sarandon, who is a supporter of Heifer International. Oprah personally provided 50 goats for Beatrice’s home village of Kisinga. The year following, 60 Minutes accompanied Beatrice to Uganda to film her story prior to her moving to the US for her first semester of college at Connecticut College. The summer after completing her first year of university, Beatrice worked as an intern in the Washington DC Office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Since then, Beatrice has spoken at many prestigious events, having the opportunity to meet President Bill Clinton and renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs. She has also interned with The Clinton Foundation, and spoken to an Educators group at Clemson University on the topic of “Sustainability in Uganda”.
Beatrice will graduate from Connecticut College in May 2008, having majored in International Development and Gender Studies. She will continue her education by pursuing a Master’s Degree at The Clinton School of Public Service, beginning in the fall of 2008.
| 
