History

A History of our Organization and our Board

Someone wise and mystical once said that when you look over long years of events, all those illogical events and coincidences and serendipities take shape, and you see that it could never have turned out any other way.

Abdou N’Dir (Board of Directors) started this story. He was born in 1982 or 1983 in Guéoul. By 1990, his legs were so badly infected that he had not been able to walk for months.

Judy Beggs (Board of Directors and Executive Director) succumbing to a lifelong and unfulfilled wanderlust, shut down her American life and her law practice of 16 years and joined the Peace Corps. September of 1990 found her assigned to Guéoul where she joined the family of Abdou’s grandmother just shortly after Abdou arrived to live with her.

Over Judy’s Peace Corps assignment, many friends came to visit. The first was Sharon P. bought the antibiotics that Abdou’s family could not afford and upon her arrival Sharon and Judy scooped him up and took him to the clinic. Months later, he finally shook the last of the infection. He’d lost so much school time that he had to repeat the 2nd grade. After he got the use of his legs back, it was discovered that even at age 7, he was the best dancer in the village.

Other friends and family visited during Judy’s tour to meet the people of Guéoul, among them long-time friend Clare Donnelly (Board of Directors) and Judy’s daughter Niki Richardson (Board of Directors).

Judy left Africa after her two-year stint. On the way home, during a layover in France, she met two young men from Colorado on their way to Senegal to learn drumming. She armed the Dinwoodie brothers with some basic Wolof and a few contact names and off they went.

When Judy returned to Colorado, the brothers invited her to a performance of Cleo Parker Robinson’s Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum. She met Cleo and the conversation turned to the boy in Africa and his amazing dancing ability. In 1995, at age 12, Abdou arrived in Denver to study dance with her. For several years, he danced professionally with her program. Abdou excelled in dance and in school and one scholarship after another kept him in Denver through high school, college, and grad school!

Back to the story. . .
John Montaña (Board of Directors) and Judy met in 1993. He had just finished law school, and the two of them collaborated on several legal matters. He met Abdou in Denver in 1995, and always vowed to go visit Guéoul.

In 2005, the day finally came for the Grand Tour of Guéoul. Judy, Clare, John and Abdou set off to visit. During the course of the stay in Guéoul, John discovered that Judy and Abdou were sending a bit of money to Guéoul from time to time, to keep a couple of Abdou’s female cousins in school. John has a brash and effective way about him. He said, “Let’s keep a bunch of them in school”. The conversations during that visit were all about how to make that happen.

The key to the program being developed was Mbaye Samb. He’s a High School principal, fluent in English, and a community leader. His leadership and business ability were a perfect combination. He volunteered to provide oversight of the program in Guéoul, and to manage the finances. The program probably could not have developed without him.

The story has continued with developing a Denver-based Board of Directors. This dedicated and inspired group has continued to grow the scholarship program and create valuable complimentary programs to benefit the girls and community of Guéoul. Want to join our Board of Directors? Come sit in on our meetings and get to know us. Call 303 788 1716 for meeting dates.

Meet our Board of Directors!