Mary and Rehema sleep in adjoining bunks at a girls’ dormitory built by ChildFund at a school in Samburu County, Kenya.
They’re both 14, and when they get a little older, they both want to work in healthcare. There’s something empowering about the idea of becoming a professional healer. Where they’re from, girls don’t often get that opportunity.
In the pastoral communities of north-central Kenya, the pace of life rises and falls with the seasons.
The sweltering blue sky of the dry season grows gray and heavy when the rains come, first the short rains and, later, the long.
Livestock — the basis of the local economy — are born, have their own babies and die. Most children grow up helping their families look after cattle, donkeys, camels and goats.
But for girls — who often aren’t encouraged to go to school — livestock sometimes becomes the inherent, inadvertent purpose of their lives, the limit of their learnings about the world.
Educators always need fun and engaging activities for preschool, childcare and day care centres.
Charity fundraising events create learning opportunities for children of all ages, their parents and the wider community. They’re also great ways for educators to get the class involved with the community, while complying with the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
For centres that haven’t yet hosted a charity fundraiser, or aren’t sure what’s required for a great event, we’ve listed our top five preschool fundraising events to help you get started. So, let’s get fundraising.
1. Read-a-thon
Kids love stories! Story-time is an exciting part of the day for many children, hearing about faraway places, animals and other fun-filled tales. While the little one’s might not yet be able to read, helping them learn is a cause family and friends will be excited to be a part of.
For a preschool read-a-thon you’ll need to take a different approach. Instead of the children reading themselves, have parents and teachers read to the preschoolers.
What you will need: Create a scorecard for students and parents to log their reading time and the number of books each child has read.
How to collect donations: Have the children ask for sponsorships from family members and friends for each book read to them within a given time frame. We recommend two weeks.
Fundraising Tip: Have the children tell the class about their favourite story at your next news day as part of the read-a-thon.
