Did you no that allmost a sevinth of the wurld's poplashun canot reed or rite?

Education is a fundamental human right, one that you and I have been fortunate enough to enjoy but, probably, take for granted.  Unfortunately, in the poorer countries of our world, this basic necessity for equipping a human being with the means to become literate and numerate and fulfil his or her potential in life is often sacrificed as a result of poverty.

So, on 10th November 2010 I will be leaving the comforts of my home in the UK for 8 weeks to head out to an incredibly poor community in Lusaka, Zambia.  I will be volunteering with a special charity called Shine whose specific aim is to meet the basic educational needs of some of the world's poorest children.

I am funding my trip myself but, in addition to my volunteering, would like to raise some money for the project itself and this is where I hope you can help.

Shine was established in 2006 and started its first literacy school in January 2007.  Initially, the school was based in a small rented house using converted bedrooms as classrooms.  After 3 years, the charity was able to construct their own four-classroom building using money raised by UK-based fundraising events over a 2 year period.

As of January 2010 the school has 90 children and employs 3 full-time local teachers.  The construction of the classroom block was just Phase 1 of a three phase project.  Phase 2 - the construction of an adminstration buiding and library commenced in June this year and is well underway.  Phase 3, the creation of a further four-room classroom block has, due to a shortage of funds, been put on hold.

Shine needs to raise £15,000 to complete Phase 3 - it's a tough target to reach but I hope that by asking my family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances to make a donation we can make some headway to achieving it. 

If you'd like to help me try to reach this target, and I hope you will, donating through JustGiving couldn't be easier.

I will be working with the children, aged between 6 and 15, both in and out of the classroom where I know I can contribute to helping them secure a better future for themselves but I'll also be wielding paintbrushes and hammers (look out!) to help complete the final stages of the new library and then go on to source books and help set up the library system itself.

Any donation is a great donation and I give you a huge, huge THANK YOU for it.

Sarah

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.