A letter from our Executive Director . . . I added the names of our grandchildren to a desk, will you?
Dear Friends,
Our social worker Edwin has recently been working on his fitness. He set-up a make-shift gym on campus and the kids roar with laughter when he does his squats and push-ups. How he keeps his concentration amidst such ridicule is beyond me.
A few weeks ago, Edwin invited me on a run. It was about 11 am on a Tuesday, a time when you would expect most children to be in school.
Except in Njabini, many children are not in school. There’s nothing like seeing an eight-year old child and his grandmother – each carrying 40 lbs of firewood on their back – to make you feel like a total loser during your run.
Recently, I was telling a potential donor about our plans to build more classrooms when he suggested that we consider a model whereby community members donate their time to help construct the new school so that they have “skin in the game” when it comes to valuing our efforts in education.
I thought of this boy and his grandmother. I searched my mind for someone in our village who would need to be convinced that education saves lives. From the father who chooses to pay school fees over buying food for himself, to the teacher who stays at his desk long after the sun has gone down, to the young boy herding sheep who followed me home asking “for a chance to come learn” – if there is one thing Njabini has, it’s skin in the game.
We are ready to expand our campus with six new classrooms – enough space to allow us to serve a further 100 students a year. Today, we ask our Flying Kites family to join our campaign to get 100 kids into school in 100 days by donating a desk. Each desk represents a student who we will be able to serve as a result of our expansion.
Please consider adding your name to a desk and showing some of the world’s poorest children that when it comes to their future – you have skin in the game.
In gratitude,
Leila de Bruyne
Executive Director