In September of 2003, we (Sheri Saltzberg and Mark Grashow) had an opportunity to visit a number of schools and orphanages in Southern Africa. There we met hundreds of children eager to learn and resolute in the belief that school held the key to their future. At every turn we found remarkable and committed teachers, eager to do anything and everything in their power to provide a more meaningful education to their students. Long meetings were held with principals, teachers, parents, and local leaders to provide a greater insight into the needs of local communities and schools. In all our discussions there was always a sense of inspiration, hope and vision for the future of the children of Southern Africa. Parents and educators stand ready to build their nation’s future through their children. They will do it, one step and one brick at a time, but they will do it. But they cannot do it alone. They need our help.

The obstacles are huge. We visited schools that had six pens for six hundred students and met children who slept on concrete floors when it was too late or too far to travel home. We found schools libraries with no books and children with HIV disease who received no medication. In one school, 700 students went with no breakfast or lunch every school day. In another, eight teachers shared a small outdoor toilet and cooked their meals under a dilapidated lean-to.

 

… Mark meeting with faculty

There were science labs with no chemicals or test tubes. We watched kids playing soccer after school using a paper ball wrapped in tape because the school did not possess a single piece of sports equipment. With each school and orphanage we visited, one thing became crystal clear. We could play a significant role in expanding and enhancing the learning environment. We came home with a new mission. The USACF, a non-for-profit organization, was founded.

  
. . . learning new skills…

Recognizing the needs of these schools and having the capacity to raise money and amass materials is only a beginning. What is crucial to the success of any such undertaking is having locally established trusted agencies organize and oversee this comprehensive effort. We have found such an organization in the Organization of Rural Associations for Progress, (ORAP). Founded in 1980 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe ORAP, is a grassroots organization dedicated to helping local residents and communities develop small businesses, viable agricultural and comprehensive educational systems. They stand ready to implement and facilitate all aspects of the program.

Working with ORAP, school leaders and elected officials, we formulated a plan to link dozens of schools in New York with their African counterparts. The partnerships will have three components:

 1. The students of each school will share histories, personal as well as historical, through books, letters, photos and e-mails. Students will attempt to learn as much as possible about each other’s culture and seek ways to link their worlds together.

. . . a class room in need of help

2. Twice a year a 40-foot container will be shipped to Durban, South Africa loaded with requested and donated materials. Shipments will include tens of thousands of books, science equipment, calculators, computers, art supplies, sports equipment, paper, pens, pencils, linens, towels, medical supplies, maps, sewing kits, seeds and tools. Meeting specific needs of individual schools is a priority. ORAP will truck the donated materials directly to the participating schools.

3. Funds will be raised to not only pay for the storage, shipment of goods and the purchase of specifically requested materials such as brick molds and sewing machines, but for school uniforms and individual scholarships. Funds would also be used to purchase locally printed books as well as other educational materials not available in the States.

We look forward to the day when all students will have at their disposal the books and materials they need for a quality education and when the children of our sister schools will be able to follow the educational path that their minds and hearts want to take them.

The U.S. – Africa Children’s Fellowship had high hopes that with the help of friends, students and caring New Yorkers, we could build a working relationship with some of the people of Southern Africa. We never dreamed that by the end of our second year we would touch the lives of 18,000 children and transformed the educational outlook of 35 schools. This has been a truly incredible year and a small reminder that when good people work together they can accomplish great things.

It would have been great to have you along to see two-dozen local school officials walk around a room filled with hundreds of boxes of school supplies in utter disbelief and just when they came to thank us for all we had brought, we turned with a smile and led them into a second room that had even more boxes. I wish you could have met the aunt who waited quietly for hours in the principal’s office just to express gratitude for the first sneakers her nephew had ever received. And I wish you could see young children sitting under African trees with books on their laps and reading about things they never dreamed existed. What a wonderful thing we have done together.

This past year’s drive involved 12 sister schools, four non-paired up schools, our food coop, friends and neighbors. Together we gathered over 800 boxes of school supplies. Included in the shipment were 20,000 textbooks, 10,000 children’s books, school supplies (pens, pencils, paper, etc.), sports equipment, toiletries, toys, fencing and clothing. One school that received the materials had had no books, no pencils, no paper and no chalk.

USACF strives not only to help supply the materials needed in Africa, but to strengthen the bonds between Americans and Africans. This program is not about a rich country helping a poor country. It is about two proud people learning about each other and understanding their commonality and differences. To this end - students, teachers and principals will be exchanging letters four times a year. They will share their lives with pen pals. American students will learn a greater appreciation of what they have and discover that they have the capacity to change the lives of others. African students will discover the world that exists beyond its borders and will wake each day with a greater hope for their future.

Thank you!

Mark Grashow and Sheri Saltzberg