Education: The Key to Getting Out of Poverty
It has been said many times that education is the only way out of poverty. But what does that mean? If your education consists of a classroom of 60 students with a teacher that does not have any resources other than a black chalkboard, maybe not so much. How do you learn more than basic reading and writing without sufficient resources? And without any books to read, how do you develop your reading skills? How is a rudimentary reading ability going to help you develop skills that will ensure a decent wage?
When Johann recently visited the DRC, he was accompanied by Nathan, a Nanaimo teacher. They met with different groups of teachers and administrators to discuss their challenges and share some of the best practises in terms of curriculum development. It is tough to find solutions when your classrooms do not have electricity, and all that the students have are a notebook and a pencil.
We hope to change that for Mango Tree School, where the Grace Orphanage children attend. We have shipped a container filled with school supplies, teacher resources, French and English books. Most of these resources have been received through the generosity of Community Resources Warehouse, a charity in Victoria. The container will be turned into a library at Mango Tree School. Our goal is for the whole community in that area to benefit, not just the Grace Orphanage children.
Several other helpful resources have also been packed into the container, that is expected to leave Vancouver any day now. A 3,300 litre water tank, supplied by Premier Plastics at cost, will be set up as a rainwater collection system at the Orphanage. Blake Erickson designed and supplied a gutter system that will feed the rainwater from the roof into the tank. This will alleviate fresh water supply challenges for at least 7 months of the year.
The container being loaded in Victoria
In addition to clothing for children and adults, we also included sewing machines. The plan is to set up a sewing teaching centre for widows from the area, who will be able to make clothing to generate some income to buy food for their children.
Gleaners also donated soup powder for over 20,000 cups of soup as emergency food supply. This will be of tremendous help for times when food supplies run out at the end of the month.
Packed to the brim
The container also has bikes, sports supplies, shoes and many other much needed items. We cannot wait to see pictures of the container arriving and being opened by them!
Interview with an orphan – please watch this 2 minute video:
(Special thanks to FlyPress Films for the editing)
Thank You
We would like to thank all the amazing volunteers who donated and helped to collect and pack all the items that we are sending to the orphanage. First to our partners:
– Global Outreach, who shares this container with us to support their orphanage a few miles up the road from Grace.
– Compassionate Resources Warehouse. Without Dell and her amazing team of volunteers, we would never have been able to send the container. CRW has already sent over 300 containers to 65 countries on behalf of Canadian charities.
To all the amazing business owners who donated in different ways: Ace Courier, Adonai Millwork, Atlas Truss, Black Apple, Budget Storage, Canadian Tire, Coast Distributors, Erickson Roofing, Frazer Valley Gleaners, Green4Good, Home Depot, Imex, Metral Dental, Premier Plastics, Thermoproof Windows, and all the others that I may be forgetting – THANK YOU!
Children’s Stories:
Omari Fikirini
Born in Songo village, Omari as a 9 year old boy, was accused of witchcraft. He was then rejected by his family and forced to live by himself on the streets. GRACE MINISTRY ORPHANAGE found him living in great hardship all alone. Omari is now doing grade 5 at primary school. His vision is to become a teacher.
Christine Hasha
Born in Kimanga, Christine (now 12) at age 7 suffered the horrifying ordeal of watching her parents being stoned to death by the whole village after being accused of witchcraft. Christine and her two brothers were left alone and later her brothers left the village and she was cared for by neighbors. The family were fearful about Christine living with them as they themselves have been accused of witchcraft for helping her. Christine has now been in the care of GRACE MINISTRIES for 4 years.
To donate please go to our websites listed below:
www.grace-orphanage.org, or www.iwof.ca
Read more about us in Nanaimo Magazine: http://www.downtownmagazine.ca/nanaimo/