From :  Vickie Wiedenmann
Sent :  Tuesday, July 26, 2005 7:15 PM
Subject : Update!


Dear Kristen & Anastasia,

School Fees/Uniforms/Supplies – Zambia  -- Kristen, as promised, I have talked with our Vice President of Program Services, Pat McDonnell, as well as our Regional Director for Africa, Moussa Ba, about your idea of raising funds for school fees for our kids in Zambia.  They’ve provided me with some background information as it relates to education in Zambia as well as a few suggestions.   I hope you find the following information helpful.

In the two communities where Children International works in Zambia (Kanyama and Chibolya), there are 20,000 school-aged children.  Unfortunately, there are only three government-operated schools in these communities with a total capacity of 9,000 children.  Private schools and community schools have improved the situation somewhat, but those schools are pretty much unaffordable for the children in our program.  Fees for those schools range from $100 to $215 per student per year.

The basic education program in Zambia is free for those children who attend government schools.  The children must, however, wear uniforms, purchase their own supplies and provide their own transportation to and from school.  Most of our sponsored families are so desperate that they cannot even afford these items – which makes it impossible for the children to attend school.

So, Kristen, we have two immediate problems when it comes to providing our kids in Zambia with an education – 1) finding classroom space to accommodate each of them, and 2) funding the purchase of supplies and uniforms.  Our strategy is not yet clear as to how we go about getting all of our kids in school – but we know that we will be providing supplies and uniforms to many of them, so perhaps your fundraising efforts could lean in that direction (rather than for school fees).  The current cost of a uniform is $17 and supplies will approximate $10 per child. (Kristen's Edit: Because of Paypal fees, we are rounding off the figure so as to raise $30 per child.)

It won’t be easy to solve the problem of a lack of classroom space for the children in these two communities.  We have several thoughts on the table – and one is that we might work with the local officials to build classrooms on to the existing schools.  All of those details must be worked out with our agency staff and community leaders, but we are hopeful.

So, to sum it up, I believe fundraising for uniforms and supplies might be the best way to ensure an education for many of our sponsored children in Zambia.  We can certainly provide you with photographs of our kids going to school, wearing their school uniforms, displaying their school supplies – whatever you need to add to your website.  We can get letters from some of the kids and from our staff in Zambia that you could also post to your site.  

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Kristen & Anastasia, I apologize that this message is so long – but I hope you find the information helpful as you move forward with your excellent fundraising ideas.  Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or need more information about any of this material. 

All the best to you both!  And, thank you again for everything!

Vickie