<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><h1> 'The best job I have ever had in my life'</h1><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!--endclickprintinclude--><div id="cnnHeaderRightCol"><!--startclickprintinclude--><ul><li class="cnnHiliteHeader">Story Highlights</li><!-- google_ad_section_start --><li> Detroit native moved to Africa to raise her grandchildren after her daughter died<br> </li><li> After her husband died, she filled her days home-schooling her grandchildren<br> </li><li> Her "10,000 Girls" program helps girls teach each other and become entrepreneurs<br> </li><li> <a href="http://heroes.cnn.com/default.asp" target="new">Vote for Viola Vaughn, one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008</a><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!--startclickprintexclude--></li><li id="cnnNextStoryCSI" class="cnnNextStory"><a
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</div><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--startclickprintexclude--> <!--endclickprintexclude--><p> <b>KAOLACK, Senegal (CNN)</b> -- After the sudden death of her 26-year-old daughter left five grandchildren in her care, Viola Vaughn searched for peace. </p> <!--startclickprintexclude-->
<div class="cnnStoryPhotoBox"><div id="cnnImgChngr" class="cnnImgChngr"><!----><!--===========IMAGE============--><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/LIVING/04/10/heroes.vaughn/art.vaughn2.jpg" alt="More than 1,500 girls are involved in Viola Vaughn's program in six locations; about 1,000 are waiting to join." width="292" border="0" height="219"><!--===========/IMAGE===========--><div class="cnnStoryPhotoCaptionBox"><div class="cnn3pxTB9pxLRPad"><p><!--===========CAPTION==========-->More than 1,500 girls are involved in Viola Vaughn's program in six locations; about 1,000 are waiting to join.<!--===========/CAPTION=========--></p></div></div><div class="cnnWireBoxFooter"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_wire_BL.gif" alt="" width="4" height="4"> </div></div></div>
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Though she was a native of Detroit, Michigan, Vaughn had worked in
Africa for most of her life and considered it home. So she and her
husband returned there to raise their new brood and "watch the coconut
trees grow."</p><p> "But the universe had other things in mind for me," says Vaughn. <a href="http://heroes.cnn.com/default.asp" target="new">Vote for Viola, one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008</a> </p><p>
She couldn't have imagined those plans would include both further
tragedy and the motivation to provide educational opportunities to
hundreds of failing schoolchildren.</p><p> Soon after their move to
rural Kaolack, Senegal, in 2000, Vaughn's husband -- jazz musician Sam
Sanders -- died of black lung. Amid her grief, she found comfort in her
grandchildren, ages 4 to 12, and filled her days home-schooling them.
Her success soon garnered attention from the locals.</p><p> "There was
a little girl that my granddaughter played with. This little girl kept
coming around and wanting to be taught with my grandchildren," recalls
Vaughn. </p><p> "I went to see this child's mother, and her mother
said she had already failed school once, that she couldn't pass because
she wasn't smart enough. Well she was smart enough to come find me. And
I said, 'OK, I'll help you.' "</p><p> Within two weeks, Vaughn had 20 girls in her house who were failing school and asking her to teach them. </p><p>
Vaughn learned that the regional pass rate for girls was low because it
was rooted in the economic need of young girls to work at home. They
begin missing classes, then failing exams, often ultimately failing or
dropping out of school. <span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" alt="Video" width="16" border="0" height="14"> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/10/heroes.vaughn/index.html#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/living/2008/04/09/heroes.viola.vaughn.one.girl.cnn');">Watch Vaughn tell the story of how one little girl sparked 10,000 »</a></span></p><p> So in 2001, Vaughn turned her grandchildren's bedrooms into classrooms and began supplementing girls' education.</p> <!--startclickprintexclude-->
<div class="cnnStoryElementBox"><h4>Don't Miss</h4> <ul class="cnnRelated"><li>
<a target="new" href="http://heroes.cnn.com/default.asp">Vote for the CNN Hero of the Year</a>
</li><li>
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/cnn.heroes">In Depth: CNN Heroes</a>
</li><li>
<a target="new" href="http://www.10000girls.org/">Get Involved: 10,000 Girls</a>
</li></ul></div>
<!--endclickprintexclude--><p>
"I found every one a girl younger than she and said, 'You're
responsible to make sure she learns.' I taught them how to teach each
other."</p><p> It worked. In two years, the group of girls had grown to
80 -- and they were succeeding in school. With a grant, Vaughn was able
to hire teachers, and the program continued to expand despite her
attempt to set a limit of 100 girls.</p><p> "The girls wanted to take it to 10,000," says Vaughn.</p><p>
To keep their "10,000 Girls" education program going, the girls asked
Vaughn to teach them to bake. They began selling cookies and juice and
were able to buy books and supplies. </p><p> Soon after, they got
their older sisters, aunts and cousins -- who had already failed out of
the school system -- involved in baking and selling goods. The
entrepreneurial element of the program was born. <span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" alt="Video" width="16" border="0" height="14"> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/10/heroes.vaughn/index.html#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/');">Watch Vaughn describe her "10,000 Girls" program »</a></span></p><p> "They were supporting their cause," says Vaughn. "It was something remarkable."</p><p>
Today, in addition to a pastry shop and catering business, "10,000
Girls" runs a sewing workshop and the girls export their handmade dolls
and household linens overseas. </p><p> Half of the funds from these
projects go back to the girls; the remainder supports the education
program, no longer in Vaughn's house.<span class="cnnEmbeddedMosLnk"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif" alt="Video" width="16" border="0" height="14"> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/10/heroes.vaughn/index.html#cnnSTCVideo" onclick="CNN_changeMosaicTab('cnnVideoCmpnt','videos.html',true,'/video/living/2008/04/09/cnn.heroes.viola.vaughn.cnn');">Watch Vaughn explain how the unique dolls are sewn in the workshop »</a></span></p><p> More than 1,500 girls are involved in Vaughn's program in six locations; about 1,000 are waiting to join.</p> <!--startclickprintexclude--><div class="cnnStoryElementBox">
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</div><!--endclickprintexclude--><p> "We have girls who were told
they'd never get through high school who are at university now," beams
Vaughn. "We hope that if we get 10,000 girls out there, 1,000 girls
will come back to Kaolack and work. It would revolutionize the whole
region.</p> "Here I am, retired, and this is the best job I have ever had in my life."
<br><br><div id="RTEContent"><strong><em><font color="#bf00bf" face="times new roman">Check us out online! Updates, performances, classes, schedules, and more...</font></em></strong></div> <div><strong><em><font color="#bf00bf" face="times new roman"></font></em></strong> </div> <div><strong><em><font color="#bf00bf" face="times new roman">www.africansoulinternational.org</font></em></strong></div> <div><strong><em><font color="#bf00bf" face="Times New Roman"></font></em></strong> </div></td></tr></table><br>