Education Sudan Project #10020

Kindergartens for Vulnerable Children in Darfur

by Kids for Kids

Project Report | Dec 17, 2018
Kindergartens boost village status - can we build more in 2019?

By Sage Lancaster | Project Leader

Students at Hillat Hamid Kindergarten

"People are moving to our village because of the Kindergarten," says Miriam, one of the second generation goat loan beneficiaries in Hillat Hamid Village. "Our young men are able to stay with us, because life is so much better for us, since Kids for Kids adopted us."

It is important to realise just how many aspects of people's lives are improved by all the Kids for Kids projects, especially education. Life is really changing quite dramatically for families in Hillat Hamid. The village experienced a time not long ago when most of the population of the village had fled their homes leaving behind most of their belongings because it was not safe for them in Hillat Hamid. Fortunately, after security situations improved, many have been able to return to the village. Ibrahim, the village Sheikh, says "the village picture has changed after joining Kids for Kids. The number of goats, putting in the hand pump, establishing the health unit and now, our kindergarten, are encouraging people to come and settle here." This is exceptionally valuable at a time when those hundreds of families who have been living in the vast IDP (internally displaced people) camps are desperate to find a permanent home for their children once again.

There are about twice as many children attending Hillat Hamid as had been expected, because so many people have settled in the village. The schools we build have two classrooms and an office for the teachers, but there are 102 students at the kindergarten this year. This means that the Kindergarten is asking for more equipment for the children - more desks and chairs, more toys and educational materials, and also trees to plant outside so there is shade. We also plant fruit trees when we can so that the children have fruit in the hottest months of the year when nothing is growing and which are called the 'hungry months'

The village of Hillat Hamid is welcoming families who want to settle in the village because life is so much better there. We need to supply the Kindergarten with more equipment. Can you help this Holiday Season?

We only build Kindergartens after the villages we adopt have shown that they can run our basic projects to a high standard, taking complete control and ownership over them and ensuring their success. The Kindergarten in Hillat Hamid and those in our eight other villages where we have already built Kindergartens are a fantastic sign of the success of the Kids for Kids program. We could not build any new Kindergartens during 2018 as we had to provide emergency aid to families during the drought in 2018 but our plan now is to build five Kindergartens in 2019. Can you help?

By donating to this project before the year is up, we will be able to commit to building a new Kindergarten in one of our many worthy villages. Donate some bricks to build the school, a uniform for a child, some books, educational toys and more! If you wanted to adopt a whole Kindergarten it can be named after you, your loved one or a special occasion. With every donation you can print off one of GlobalGiving's Gift Certificates or get in touch with our US volunteer, Mary Jane at MaryJane-US@kidsforkids.org.uk so we can make you a special personalised certificate for any occasion specifically for your friend/family member! If you are in the UK or anywhere else in the world, please contact us here: contact@kidsforkids.org.uk.

Donate now to give the best holiday gift you could ever give. And please encourage your friends and family members to donate this year as well. Together we can make a real difference in the New Year.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Kids for Kids!

Please can you help more children to go to school?

Gift Certificates for any Holiday!

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Sep 20, 2018
Young Children Tied to Huts - Please Help

By Patricia Parker MBE | Kids for Kids Founder and CEO

Please help us keep children safe

A message from Kids for Kids Founder, Patricia:

When I first began visiting Darfur I saw little children, no more than three or four years old, tied with rope to their family's huts. I was aghast. I could not think of any reason for why children would be put in such dangerous situations by their own mothers.

Speaking to mothers, I could tell they loved their children so much, but saw no other option. When children are young, a mother can tie her baby with cloth to her body as she travels the four or five hours walk to fetch water. But as the child gets older she cannot manage a heavy infant and the jerrycans she must carry - her family's only supply of water for the day. What could they do? There was no chance of a neighbour watching their children as everyone in Darfur is carrying out the same chores, walking hours to fetch water, tending livestock, and keeping their own children safe. Mothers do not want their two and three-year old's crawling off, so they will tie their children to their huts, keeping them secure while they are gone fetching water. Can you imagine?

This absolutely had to be stopped. You may not know, but this is one of the reason's we started building Kindergartens.

Of course, there are many compelling reasons why children need to go to school early - in Darfur many cannot start until 9 or 10, or later. Many mothers can only afford to send their eldest son to school. If children start education late they have little chance of reaching their full potential. Children grow up very early in Darfur with virtually no childhood as survival is something every member of a family has to help with, even little ones. Not only do our Kids for Kids' Kindergartens provide an early education to children, but mothers are no longer forced to tie their children to huts to stop them wandering into the desert. Mothers can go about their daily chores knowing not only are their children safe, but they are learning, and from the earliest age possible. They are on the path out of poverty.

Please can you help us continue to build Kindergartens, keeping children safe, and giving them the chance every child deserves at a better future? Tell your friends about this project and encourage them to donate. We have to build more schools as soon as possible.

Every Child Deserves an Education

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Jun 25, 2018
Short-Term help achieves Long-Term Goals

By Sage Lancaster | Project Leader

Help now means children attend school long-term

In our previous project report we mentioned that we will be funding 5 kindergartens in 5 villages that have been caring for their communities particularly well. We currently have our short list of those villages but we cannot start work on them - the dream of all mothers - until we are sure the current emergency has come to an end.

For the next few months, in order for these Kindergartens to be successful, we have to first focus on the current famine in Darfur. There is drought in Darfur and crops have failed for the second year running. Rains should come soon and crops can be planted again. But famine does not go away quickly, and although we are not an emergency organisation, we cannot stand by and let children starve. We know we need to provide emergency help now so in the long run, our long-term projects succeed.

Education remains the route out of poverty - we know this to be true, and so do the families we help in our Kids for Kids villages. However, when families rely on what they can grow, and the harvest fails, people have no food and there is no solution except the provision of emergency supplies. As soon as we can, we will begin building these new schools, so please continue to donate, so that we have sufficient funds to be able to give the go ahead at the first possible opportunity. Kindergartens are desperately needed if children are to have the best hope for the future. Please tell your friends and family about our projects, and show your support for families who are going through an extraordinarily tough time right now. Imagine what it will be like when the famine is over, and we can tell villages that they will be getting a Kindergarten? Mothers and Fathers will be so thrilled - not to mention little ones - who will have never thought this possible! Children cannot wait to join one of our Kids for Kids' Kindergartens. They are the first in the whole of Darfur to provide toys at school. Parents cannot afford to buy toys so no child in any village will have ever had the opportunity to play like children in the rest of the world. At our Kindergartens we provide educational toys including things like musical instruments, and outdoor equipment, something they will never have seen.

The funds you give to this project will enable us to build these Kindergartens once the crisis is over. Our long-term sustainable projects are no use if families starve. Over the last 18 years we have shown that to give children a better future we must help families to help themselves - and what better way to a better future than enabling children to start school at the right age. Thank you for the help you continue to give to Kids for Kids. Your support makes it possible for children to have a better future.

Links:

Read more about the current famine in Darfur

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