March 20th is both the International Day for the French Language and World Happiness Day. This is a perfect opportunity for your students to create for an appreciative and exotic Francophone audience, and build empathy and resilience through connection with French-speaking children living under different, and difficult, circumstances.
SchoolKits for Congo invites Australian students to provide a school bag and uniform for a child struggling to afford to attend school at all, along with one of four little French books, which can be downloaded, chosen and personalised as part of the gift.
Each giving child will receive a photo of their SchoolKit and unique book in the hands of a delighted Congolese child who has been learning to read and write using slates, but has never held a book before!
If your more advanced students would like to use our 1-page fold-a-book template to create an entirely original French story, we can even video some Congolese children enjoying their works, and return the videos to the authors. What better way to celebrate both World Happiness and French!
SchoolKit donations provide the materials and income for a team of seven single mothers, who are refugees from violence in other parts of Congo. This work gives them the dignity of housing and educating their own children.
Any approach to fundraising is fine, including asking your local Rotary Club to partner in the exercise*, but an easy option is to use our raffle (drawn at te end of March) which offers $5000 worth of cash prizes. If the participating students sell seven $5 tickets, that will fund their SchoolKit gifts. The students will have a sense that they have earnt the gift themselves, without requiring any outlay or complicated arrangements, and I’m here to make sure it runs smoothly.
Any questions you might have contact: Penny Vos on 0429170739
