EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES - 10 WAYS TO HELP - The Ilze Halliday Foundation

EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES - 10 WAYS TO HELP - The Ilze Halliday Foundation

Although I have already had one kind person donate educational supplies I still need more. Remember I'm helping around 14 facilities around Pretoria with nearly 1200 children in pre-primary, primary and high school, so you will understand the need for action in this regard.

Many of these children reside in places of safety (mostly abandoned children up to the age of 5 or 6), some of them are HIV positive, some of them are orphans living on social welfare (if they are lucky enough, that is). All of them have far less than most of you guys have....our own children (and often the parents as well), take our circumstances for granted. We can afford to buy school clothes, tablets for e-education, extra curricular activities, books, stationery...and more often than not, our children are still unhappy, filled with discontent, despite the abundance of earthly possessions, love, caring and simply, families, they have. Things like electricity and running water are things we TOTALLY take for granted.

Let me enlighten you about some of these schools...
- the children often have NO parents, NO proper homes, just shacks (if they are lucky)
- many of the older kids (I'm talking 8 years and older) have to take the place of a
  parent, leaving school to work/steal for a living), they will never have the privilege of
  being just kids.
- 2 thirds of my facilities have no electricity or running water and NO lavatories inside
  (sometimes just a hole in the ground....really)
- some schools have tin huts for classrooms and the children's meals consists of
  Mabella or soup....they don't get juice, they have to drink water from the single tap on
  the block.
- mostly the teachers are unqualified....it is volunteers from the community that give
  their time for free to teach these kids the basics....yet, they DO try their best and I
  have so much respect for that.
- in the orphanages the children sleep at night, sometimes three or four to a single bed 
- the floors in their classrooms are bare cement and the tin huts have inadequate
  ventilation.
- most of these schools get by without any support from welfare organizations or the
  government.
- there is no black/white boards, no pictures on the walls apart from those drawn by the
  kids, no proper study guides, no literature, very little pens and pencils (they usually
  share one Tupperware bowl filled with crayons), there is no musical instruments, no
  radios, nothing at all.....
...this just a few notes on the things I have personally noticed during my visits. But let me tell you one thing....those kids are willing to learn, they are there every day, never miss a class and thoroughly enjoy whatever education they get. 

I feel it is our duty as citizens of a country where, in my humble opinion, the children are our only hope for a peaceful and prosperous future, to make sure that we try our best to give them a proper education.

Remember what I said....even the most humble donation will be used well. I'm not asking that you go to the store and spend thousands of rands on educational supplies, I'm simply asking that you try to give a little something back...trust me, you will reap the benefits.

Now, you may wonder about the heading for this post....the 10 ways you can help and here it is:

1. Donate supplies (pen's, pencils, crayons, paper, books, calculators, erasers, paint, whatever - see previous post 'January is stationary month)
2. Find a school on my website (read through the posts on my blog or contact mefor a list) and sponsor it for a month/year, whatever, with supplies/food
3. Sponsor one child for a year with supplies, school fees and school clothes, or just one of these.
4. Donate funds to my foundation (click for account details) for supplies/school fees/school clothes
5. Volunteer as teacher at one of the schools
6. Volunteer to train the young teachers so that they can properly assist the children in laying a foundation for higher education
7. Join me in this venture by visiting the schools and handing out the donations
8. Send meals to the school (MacDonals/KFC, whatever, as a treat once a month or just once)
9. Involve your children's school/your own business by sharing this blog....I will gladly give a talk about this, should you wish me to.
10. Donate all the old school clothes that your own children have outgrown, this includes old school bags, shoes and sport wear and equipment.

There are many more ways that you can help and I'm sure you can think of some on your own....I'm open for more ideas, so feel free to contact me.

People, it is really time that we start taking this seriously...we need to be committed to making the children of our world stronger through education and in the process teaching them the art of giving. They are our only hope.

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future."
John F Kennedy (1917-1963)