
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