The Hear Africa Foundation and the Langley Fundamental Elementary School (a public school in Langley, BC), are excited about the partnership that has started with a public school in rural Zimbabwe, called Gandidzanwa Primary School.
On Thursday, April 7th, 2011the children at Langley Fundamental, attended an assembly where they learned a little bit about Zimbabwe, saw videos of the school and most of all, had the chance to see how children, just like them, were trying to learn in a horrific environment. They were challenged with a coin drive, the following week. By the fourth day of the coin drive (Thursday), the goal of $10,000, to build 2 classrooms & and library had already been reached! That day, the children asked if the coin drive could be extended to Monday, April 18th, because they had other “ventures” they wanted to do on the week-end. On Monday we did our final count and we have exceeded $18,000.00!!!
This amazing result could only have been accomplished through the energy of students & parents, working together. We collected “stories” from the students, asking what they did to raise money & what motivated them to do so. Here are some of the responses…
- I earned all my money by cleaning, washing & gardening. For every hour I worked I would get $5 and my parents would match it for extra donation. We all did our part ‘cause we knew it was for a good cause. (Grade 2)
- I raised $75 for Zimbabwe school and I sold 75 cups of lemonade. (Grade 2)
- I felt for the Gandidzanwa School because they are so poor, they don’t have any furniture, some classes are held outside and some in, like, chicken coops. The children don’t even have shoes. Just thinking about the poor children from Zimbabwe makes all my little troubles go away and also urges me to help Gandidzanwa School. (Grade 2)
- Me and my friend stood outside Canadian Tire for 3 hours with only a sign and a box, but ended up raising $155! (Grade 4)
- I raised money for Zimbabwe because the children in the Gandidzanwa school deserve a classroom that is stable and strong. They also would need a library for learning how to read. Children need education to get far in life (Grade 4)
- My friend and I went door to door, but just around the block to be safe…we raised one hundred & seventy seven dollars!! (Grade 4)
- Me and my dad built 22 bird houses for chickadees!! I sold the bird houses at school…(Grade 1)
The Langley Times also did a follow up story you can read here:
