Thank you for your investment in the lives of children in Angola. We wrote previously to let you know the project was funded, but we write again because the goal was surpassed with donations made as part of GlobalGiving's Little by Little Matching Campaign in March.
19 donors gave $950 + $475 in matching funds = $1425 raised
Angola is still under a State of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, construction continues on the school at Viva Paz because the building team has been able to quarantine at the site. We still anticipate that the school will be completed in late May or early June, but the dedication will likely be postponed until people can gather. Once it is possible, there will be great celebration and much gratitude.
This project will be deactivated and a new project has been set up, with a big, new goal.
Thanks for your part in giving kids at Viva Paz a beautiful new school and access to education!
Your generosity will give 100 kids the chance to go to school – thank you! In December, we reported that the goal to raise $35,000 to build a classroom through this GlobalGiving Project, had been met. Funds were wired to Angola and construction began at Viva Paz in January.
Viva Paz is a place where over 5000 kids have NO school. Every child has the right to education, but these children are vulnerable and lack the basics – clean water, healthcare, and education. The parents and community long for their children to have the chance to go to school, and contributed money out of the little they have, to start building. RISE collaborated with the local Ministry of Education, and joined this committed community to build a 16-classroom school at Viva Paz, to begin to meet the huge need.
We anticipate that the school will be completed in late May and dedicated in June. Kids will attend, seated in their new classrooms for the first time. Because of your gift, children will be in a classroom this year, and for many years to come – an amazing return on investment! Every child has the right to education, and you have been part of giving more children access to the schooling they need and deserve. The kids are excited and grateful, as are their families and community – thank you!
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Thank you for helping fund a classroom for kids in Angola - the goal has been reached, and 100 more children will have access to education as a result! RISE builds primary schools as a starting point, to provide needed infrastructure and a safe space in which children can to go to school.
Enormous challenges remain, but thousands of kids now have schools and classrooms because of the efforts of RISE, and a significant difference is being made. When in Angola, we asked students what they liked about their new schools, and what difference it made. They said that they love the classrooms, windows, doors, paint, bathrooms, desks, chairs… not how most children in the US might respond. They also shared that they like the quiet of the classroom where they can concentrate without distraction, that they don’t have to carry chairs from their homes, and that even if it is raining, they have class and don’t get wet. One 5th grader excitedly stood to share, "We like your work, and ask that you please continue…" And she ended with a big “thank you!” in English. The kids are happy and grateful for a "seat in the classroom" for the first time.
There are many truly inspiring principals and leaders committed to fighting for education for the children. They lack infrastructure, resources and materials, but are passionate and persistent. The Principal at Njele, a school built by RISE in 2018, shared that students are motived, and have the ability to complete their coursework because they have classrooms. The physical structure of a classroom is a critical variable, affecting student morale and learning.
More kids are in school because of your generosity, multiplied by our partnerships. Education matters and you have helped give more children the chance to go to school - thank you!
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With your help we are nearing our goal - donations made on the July GlobalGiving Bonus Day resulted in giving 33 more children the chance to go to school!
Our priority is to build schools in Angola to give children access to education in areas where accessibility is limited or non-existent. The objective is to give a starting point, providing the building where learning takes place for children who have been affected by years of war and its aftermath, poverty, disease, lack of infrastructure, education, healthcare and clean water.
Thousands of kids are in desperate need of schools, and parents long for education for their children. Several RISE-built schools have been recently dedicated in Angola, and there is celebration and much gratitude. One village leader expressed their overwhelming thanks, saying they “had felt forgotten and never dreamt they would have such a beautiful school for their children. Thank you!”
A tangible difference is being made in the lives of hundreds of children, their families, and communities - now, and for many years to come!
Traveling to Angola the first two weeks in June, we visited amazing schools under construction, several completed and awaiting dedication, and some in which kids are in class and learning is taking place!
Upon arrival at Cambanda, a 15-classroom school dedicated in July 2018, we found hundreds of kids in class. The 4th graders were in gym (which is not the norm) – playing soccer, running relay races, and participating in group games. One in which two kids were blindfolded in the center kicking, as students in the circle around them shouted directions until one of them hits the cardboard box, and the cheering explodes. The principal is inspiring and effective, and the school is well-run, clean, orderly, and working beautifully.
An hour inland on a rutted, dirt road, we reached Denda to find students in their white batas (school uniforms) lined up, singing and clapping in welcome. Parents, teachers, and community leaders joined the children to express joy and immense gratitude for the school, and gave us bananas, beans, tangerines, avocados and a goat in thanks!
Our last day was spent at Njele, a school dedicated a year ago, where over 800 students are in new classrooms, and 1200 more kids still long for one. The principal and teachers are dedicated and grateful beyond words. Students shared that they like the quiet of the classroom where they can concentrate without distraction, that they don’t have to carry chairs from their homes, and that even if it is raining, they don’t get wet. One 5th grader added, “…we like your work, and ask that you please continue. Thank you!”
Thousands of kids will have the chance to go to school, and yet there are over 2 million kids without access to primary education. We can give more kids that opportunity. Thanks for your part in making a tangible difference in the lives of others!
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