Give 300 Kids in Angola Access to Education

Greetings!

Primary schools in Angola, which closed in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, wonderfully reopened February 10th of this year. Excited to return, students and teachers are working to follow guidelines, wearing masks, social-distancing, and washing hands, though most rural and semi-urban schools have no running water, adding to the complexity.

Every child should have access to education, and children that have a school to attend are back in class. Sadly, thousands do not have that opportunity and long for education. Thank you for your generosity, giving over recent months and in response to the Little by Little Campaign in March, which will give more kids the chance to go to school. We are 78% of the way to our goal to give 100 additional out-of-school children access to education each year. 

Your gifts make a tangible difference in the lives of kids, their families, and communities - thank you!

As 2020 comes to a close, we want to say thank you for helping give kids in Angola access to education. It has been a year like no other, and the inequities and suffering have been magnified. Angola’s economic crisis has deepened and many struggle to survive without jobs, healthcare, clean water, and food. The “Situation of Public Calamity” has again been extended, and COVID-19 cases continue to increase. Children have been at a disadvantage. Without computers, internet, and electricity, remote learning is not an option – those who were attending missed most of the academic year, February through November, with schools closed since March as a result of the pandemic. Thousands more long for education, and you have responded!

Many of you participated in the Little by Little Campaign in September, the #GivingTuesday Incentive Match on December 1st, and through year-end gifts on GlobalGiving - over $25,000 has been raised toward our $35,000 goal to provide a classroom for 100 children. Thank you for your part!  

Construction has continued since building teams live and work at the sites, and quarantine there. These funds will help build a classroom at Bolonguera, a remote village where there has never been a school. The community has felt forgotten for many years, but is very excited to see their dreams become a reality. Thank you for your generosity and the impact it will have for years to come in the lives of children in Angola!

Links:

• Construction at Bolonguera

Thank you for your part in giving kids in Angola access to education. This has been a unique phase - Angola's borders remain closed, and the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb. The healthcare system is weak and inadequate. There is extreme poverty, lack of access to clean water, poor sanitation... and suffering.

Schools have been closed since March due to the pandemic. The school year in Angola begins in February, and it is unlikely that schools will reopen in 2020, meaning that children will have missed an entire year of class. Concern for the health and well-being of children lives in tension with depriving them of the education they so deperately need and deserve. Remote options are limited or non-existent without resources, tvs, computers, electricity, and the basics. Life is complicated in Angola, the US, and around the world.

The good news is that our teams have been able to move forward with construction - building teams live on site in small, tin structures, and so they have been quarantined there. RISE Angola leadership has delivered food and supplies to them, and the teams are truly grateful for jobs in such uncertain times. Once schools are reopened, more new RISE-built schools will have been completed, and will be ready to welcome students who are excited to learn!