1) An American Girl Doll is donated - usually by a 'tween or teenage girl or any girl who has “outgrown” her passion for the AMGs. Many USA girls have 4, 5, or even 8 of the dolls, which cost $115 new.



2) Zenobia sells the “pre-owned” American Girl Dolls on eBay, to the highest bidder. She usually fetches about $45 - $60 per doll, but one model, Kanani (American Girl 2011 Doll of the Year) is a hard-to-find, discontinued model, that garnered $125 on eBay.

3) The eBay funds are send to Vision Care School in Kyarumba, Uganda. Vision Care is a non-denominational school in an impoverished rural area near the Ruwenzori Mountains, where girls often drop out of school to work on the family farm or in the coffee fields.

Many children are also orphans, with an inability to pay for schooling. Western Uganda has one of the highest orphan rates in the world due to HIV/AIDS and civil wars; 13% of the population is parentless.



4) Funds are used to pay the tuition of girls who are at risk of dropping out. $85 pays tuition for an entire year.

5. The USA girl who donates the American Girl Doll is sent a Thank You photograph, of the Uganda girl who she helped remain in school.

One well-known donor is Vivienne Harr, the “Lemonade Girl” of Fairfax, California, who has raised over $100,000 to end child slavery. Vivienne’s life story was the subject of the documentary film #StandWithMe.

If you’d like to help Ugandan girls stay in school by donating an American Girl Doll, or 2 or 4 or 10, email brighterbrainsinstitute@gmail.com.