Woman of action: Reno Anderson was inspired to help African children

Some families have photos in their homes of children they are sponsoring for pennies a day through charitable organizations. Sometimes they are hung on a refrigerator door as a reminder of the good deed and sometimes they are simply stuck in a drawer and forgotten.

But for Reno Anderson, the photo of an African girl named Seba, a child whom she and her family sponsored, inspired her to do more.

Close friend Julia Smith said Anderson is the first person in a group to do something to improve the situation of others.

"She's definitely committed to the greater good," Smith said. "That threads through everything she chooses to do. She's impassioned and will devote herself to the betterment of things and the good of others. Reno is really about doing everything she can to move things forward. Some people just talk about improving things, but Reno is about action."

Anderson, a native of Canada, spent seven years in Africa helping establish a high school for young girls. She moved to Cape Girardeau in 2006.

"I suppose it all started when our family decided to sponsor a little girl through World Vision," Anderson said. "She was a little girl named Seba, and she was important in a number of ways. We sponsored her for a couple of dollars a month and we had her picture on our fridge."

Anderson said that, although she didn't realize it at the time, the family's decision to sponsor a child was the first link in a chain of events that would lead her to Africa. As a result of the sponsorship, Anderson became interested in World Vision and began working for the organization through her research company.

"I started doing research for World Vision in the early 1990s and, because of that, I became more and more aware of different issues facing women in Third World countries," Anderson said. "I then ended up meeting a woman from Malawi, who was from the same country as our sponsor child, and we became friends. I realized from that friendship, and talking to other people, that if women in third-world countries had the opportunity for education, it would make all the difference in the world."

Anderson traveled to Malawi soon after with a group of eight women, all professionals in various fields, to establish a high school for African girls. The group spent the next seven years raising funds, building the school and working with educators to help form a curriculum that included creative thinking classes and sexual education in addition to courses traditionally taught to Malawi's children. In the years that followed, the school became successful and helped improve the lives of local young women.

"The people at the World Vision office near the school said the local girls were no longer leaving school in the fifth grade." Anderson said. "Instead they were continuing to study to try and get into the new high school. We were told that, as a result, the incidences of teenage marriage were going down and girls in that area were getting married later because of that school being there."

Anderson said the school continues to flourish and the experience sparked additional trips to Africa and other countries to work with organizations to help educate women in developing countries. In addition, Anderson continues her work by participating with the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau, which works to improve the status of women all over the world.

Smith said although her friend continues her work by traveling to places like Haiti to volunteer at women's centers, her heart still remains in Africa.

"She helped start that high school for women in Malaw, and I know her heart is still there," Smith said. "It's a very special place to her that holds a lot of meaning. I know she would like to get back there and start another school if she could find the resources."

Anderson said she hopes to return to Africa to continue the work she started 15 years ago.

"I would like to start another school in the future," Anderson said. "I still believe, very strongly, that education for young women is the key to making a difference in developing countries. That's my passion."

ssemmler@semissourian.com

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