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When REAL Trailblazer Ann Jensen taught mathematics as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, only 10% of her 9th and 10th grade students were girls. Her most promising student, Almaz, was forced by her very poor parents to quit school and get married. Almaz begged Ann to help her, but there was nothing Ann could do to help the young girl stay in school. Ann never forgot Almaz and resolved to find a way to help girls like Almaz realize their dreams of an education. 

In 2004 Ann had the good fortune to be a field supervisor to Tsehai Wodajo, then a graduate student in Social Work at Augsburg University. When in high school, Tsehai had been helped to stay in school by Eva Nordin, a Swedish volunteer in Ethiopia and, like Ann, Tsehai had resolved to help African girls complete their education. Tsehai and Ann worked together to form the structure of REAL and in 2004, they traveled to Ethiopia to explain the REAL program to a former Swedish missionary school in Nedjo, Ethiopia where Eva and Tsehai met. They recruited prospective committee members, trained the mentor, and by the fall of 2004, the first REAL site was ready to be launched. But they needed financial support.

Back in the United States Ann and Tsehai made presentations to church groups, Rotary clubs, and other organizations, so that by 2010 REAL had 9 sites in Ethiopia supporting 135 girls—an amazing accomplishment in a short time! Ann personally inspired many of our early sponsors to support a REAL girl.

Ann retired from the REAL Board in 2021, but continues to be an engaged supporter of REAL girls and frequently reminds us that the lives of girls who were unable to complete the program were significantly helped by being able to stay in school for an additional 1, 2, or 3+ years. REAL has made a real difference in the lives of hundreds of girls and young women because of Ann.