Dear NSW Families,
Namibia attained national independence from the apartheid government of South Africa in 1990.
Since then, the new Government of the Republic (GRN) has allocated 20% of its national budget to education. About 95% of school-aged children attend school and the number of teachers has increased by 30%.
This is all great news and it reflects the Namibian attitude that education is their most valuable asset and the key to their future.
The children we met at Lizauli School in East Caprivi, Namibia were a reflection of this ambition. Their eyes were bright and they were eager to learn. But what they lacked were the basic tools to facilitate their learning.
A boy in 9th grade, Daniel, was excited to learn about renewable energy sources from his treasured mathematics/ engineering text book, but was writing with a pencil an inch long. He said it was the only one available to him.
Most children are assigned one pen or pencil and must use it until it runs out. The teachers said that they request the children leave the supplies at school because they are in such short order and they don’t want the children to lose them.
In the lower grades, the children passed around the only red crayon in the class in order to finish their pictures.
We spoke with the director of the school and asked about the obvious need for basic supplies and he gave us a list of things that were needed the most. We were struck that the things on this list are things that seem so readily available to our children at home. How wonderful it would be to gift these inspired and inspiring children these basic tools they need to learn.
The children would be so grateful for your donation of:
Pens
Pencils
Crayons
Markers
Small pencil sharpeners
Paper
Spiral Notebooks
Construction Paper
Educational Books or Workbooks
Please put you donations in the basket provided located at the entrance table by the front hall.
Shipping these supplies to Namibia will be very costly. Our friends at American Live Scan & Shipping located at 11209 National Blvd. are kind enough to donate 20% off on all packages we send! Even with the discount, a 20lb. package can cost over $300 to ship!
If you are busy and don’t have the time to shop for supplies, it would be a big help if you could donate some funds for shipping costs (recommended min. donation is $10).
Checks can be made out to: Kelli Norman and placed in the folder on the door marked "Namibia Shipping".
Thank you so much,
The Children of Lizauli School, New School-West, and The Norman Family