We identify schools in the slums which are run by dedicated teachers who are focused on educating children in their local area who cannot afford the fees required for state school. To maintain the running of the school the student’s parents try to pay minimal school fees. However due to poverty, disadvantage or illness, often families are unable to pay the fees. Therefore, in order to pay for school necessities including food, books and water, the schools rely on fundraising within the local community. Most of the money raised by the schools is spent on feeding the children; many of which do not get fed at home or in some cases are orphaned and what they eat at school is all they will eat for the entire week.
Recognizing that food is the most important expense we will form a partnership with local suppliers to set up a program where food supplies are delivered to the school each month. The teachers cook this food and feed the children a daily breakfast and lunch:
The cost of the monthly food supplies are incurred by us. We will also partner with nonfood suppliers as well as local donations to provide the school with desks, chairs and educational materials including books and stationary on a quarterly basis. The suppliers we work with sell us the required food items at a discounted price and deliver them to the school in the first week of each month. Therefore, we do not give money directly to the school to purchase the items they need, but instead provide the school with a ‘service’ by sending them food supplies via an external supplier. This set-up ensures that donors know that their money is directly benefiting the children in the form of food supplies and educational materials.
The structure of this program is very simple, but the impact will allow us to make a massive difference to these children lives. The children will be able to regularly attend school, have a healthy breakfast and lunch every day and are much more alert and active in class.
Our goal is to support as many children as possible within these growing schools. If possible, we would like to support more schools, replicating our model of providing the school with a ‘service’ of food supplies and educational materials. This venture will provide hundreds of children with daily meals and enable them to attend school and receive a basic education. It will also allow the schools to use the funds they raise on training teachers, paying the rent on the school building, providing safe water for the children etc.
Our goal is to support a school for 2-5 years and within this time frame work with them to become more sustainable.
Only 57% of impoverished children are enrolled in primary education, and one in three of those does not complete school.
