Read a story: Sharing the gift of School Kits
Do you like school? What is your favorite subject - besides recess?!
For many children, being able to go to school is a luxury their family
can't afford - especially for girls. The children are needed
at home to work. And even if they do go, the schools may not have enough
pencils or paper. What would your school be like if you had no paper?
Fortunately, with some help from Church World Service and some kids in
the USA, children in Kenya are getting a chance to learn new skills for
a better life.
Among the Maasai (mah-SI) people of Kenya, formal schooling used to be a rare thing. After all, if you're always on the move, you can't afford the luxury of sending your children to school. Sometimes they would have to move with their livestock as much as 12 miles a day to find water! So CWS helped them to improve their methods of collecting water. Now Maasi children can attend schools like this one, where four teachers are educating almost 250 kids. These girls consider themselves lucky, because formal schooling has been almost unheard of among Maasi females. This is the case in many traditional African cultures. But availability of water makes all the difference. As one Maasi mother said, "The water is helping so much. Now my child can go to school, and I can even wash the school uniform."
Children in the desert of western Kenya know how important water is, too! Their fathers raise livestock to survive, but in 2000 a drought claimed more than half of their animals! Water levels remain very low, but with CWS help they are creating reliable water sources. CWS is also working hard to convince parents of the importance of schooling for their children - girls and boys. And children in in the U.S. have pitched in with help for these girls and boys. They've assembled and hand-decorated cloth school kits. Inside are pencils, paper, and other supplies needed to make learning possible. Though those U.S. kids and the kids of Kenya live very different lives, they now share more than book bags. They share the human bond of giving and receiving.
Would you like to help kids to learn and have fun? All of us can do something to make the world a better place!
Give a gift of hope through Church World Service!
