After hearing about ChildFund Australia’s Start Strong, Stay Strong project in Zambia, the students at Kingston School in Medan, Indonesia were inspired to take action. Each grade decided to raise money in their own way to support children in Zambia.
Vicki, a teacher at the school and a long-time sponsor with ChildFund Australia, says: “The children were very moved by the statistic that about 300 children under five die every day [in Zambia] – this is the size of our school. They found it hard to believe that a child could die from a high fever, which they just go to the doctor for and take an aspirin. That put everything into perspective for them.”
Monica, Nicole and Ira are in Primary Five. They shared their experience with us:
“We, Primary Five students, started fundraising from October 2012 to help Zambia, especially the babies and mothers. We had a donation box and each of us donated money. P5N raised about Rp 1,000,000 ($100AUD) and P5E raised Rp 600,000 ($60).
On the 7th December 2012 we had a Christmas celebration and we had a bazaar, fundraising for Zambia. We sold toys, which we made ourselves at home, food and drinks made by us, and flashlights. Our total effort came to Rp 4,000,000 ($400).
We enjoyed donating and selling because it was so exciting and like our parents in real life! We also think this is a good thing because we helped mothers and children in Zambia. And we did it as a team.
We want to encourage more people to donate. Go Zambia! Start strong! Stay strong!”
The seniors at Kingston School also commented on the event:
“We had fun selling for the Zambian children and mothers. This was a great experience for us and it’s good to help others. We learned how to sell and appreciate teamwork. We hope that our donations will be useful to improve the health and education system there.”
A special thanks to Monica, Nicole and Ira for sharing this story with us, and to all the teachers and students at Kingston School for supporting our work – together you raised almost $3,000 to help young Zambian children have a healthier start to life. Thank you!
The sun hangs high above the daara school in Senegal`s Thies region, about 100 miles from the capital city of Dakar. A large crowd has gathered in the circle of shade bestowed by the largest tree in the compound. Children, unfazed by the heat that radiates from the parched and sandy soil, run quick steps around them. The community members have gathered to share how they have transformed their school.
Thies is home to more than 700 daaras, which are informal Islamic schools that most parents favor over the government school system. From an early age, boys are sent to board at daaras, where they learn religious principles and how to read and write. Because most of these schools operate independently without oversight or financial assistance from the government, more than 30,000 children in the Thies region are missing out on a well-rounded formal education. Far worse, these children, often lacking proper shelter and food at the daaras, beg on the streets and face risks and abuses.
To address this situation while also respecting religious traditions, the government of Senegal is undertaking a daara modernization program, working with nonprofit partners like ChildFund. The goal is to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children and to add math, science and languages (French and Arabic) to the traditional religious teachings.
During the past 12 months, ChildFund has been working closely with community leaders to jointly transform the community. The results are all around, a new building with two airy classrooms; a brightly painted dormitory for 60 children, complete with neat bunk beds and hall bathrooms; and an open-air shelter for religious studies. Well-built private latrines are available for boys and girl, yes, the school now welcomes female children to day classes.
The new facilities are impressive, but it`s a tour of the old classroom and dormitory buildings on the opposite side of the compound that really highlights just how much Daara has changed. The dark and dingy classroom once held 300 students in what must have been impossibly crowded seating. Across the way is an equally bleak dorm room where 50 students once slept with cots and mattresses crammed together. It is hard to imagine how children could have possibly learned and slept here.
Under the shade tree, community members are eager to talk about the modernized school. “We wanted to improve the situation of the children living here,” says the leader of the Daara Management Committee. “Everybody in the village is involved. We want to be effective.”
The men and women explain that the work of keeping up the school and grounds is now divided among subcommittees: education, children`s health and welfare, animal husbandry and food. The community has welcomed ChildFund`s efforts to strengthen and support teachers in delivering expanded courses. “Our children can now do the same exams as in formal school,” one community member says.
ChildFund also has been instrumental in helping establish the school`s animal husbandry program (goats and cows) and a large garden to grow eggplant, okra, tomatoes and other nourishing foods for the children. “Children in other daaras must go outside [the compound] and beg for food. We are growing our own food, and the children have mother and parent figures they can turn to,” the committee leader explains. “It`s a big difference between the old way of running the daara and the way it is now.”
The children are shy and silent for a moment when asked what they think about the changes in their school. But then, Moy, a young boy of around 12, speaks up. “I like the new beds and the sleeping arrangements. I like the classrooms. And the fences that protect us.”
The success of the school has not gone unnoticed in the region. More parents are now sending their children to Daara. In turn, the Daara Management Committee and ChildFund are working together to gain more financial support from the Senegal government to pay teacher salaries and add more classrooms and teachers. Plans are under way to expand the garden and promote more community farming of millet, corn and peanuts to feed the children and also provide an additional source of income.
Working side by side these past 12 months, community members have discovered that they have the power to educate and protect their greatest asset, children.