Jewels for Schools!

The thing my sister Tracy and I like to do the best when we get together is generate ideas. This comes from my dad, the guy who invented the idea of using old caboose cars for camp cabins. And so, at Mothers Day lunch, Tracy and I found ourselves brainstorming apps for finding things in Walmart, and ways to raise funds to help kids in Uganda get a better education.

See, last summer when I went to Uganda to visit SOVCO (Support the Orphans and Vulnerable Children), a great organization I have become involved with, I took some visits to schools. The government schools where most children attend have about 100 children per classroom (and per teacher), but only fifty will fit at a time (crowded like this), so the children have to take turns, and spend half their day at recess.

Some parents have responded by starting their own schools. But the parents are poor, so the schools don't have basics like desks and blackboards. This one was donated by my brother-in-law.The man on the right is an eighty-year-old teacher, come out of retirement to teach for free, out of the goodness of his heart. The third teacher was not present the day I visited, because her baby had just died.

This commitment to the well-being of the children was also evident in this woman, the head teacher of a school that has become a leader in the local campaign for "girl child education." She was an idea gal, too, and we had a good old time generating ideas of how people like you could help motivate girls to finish school and get really good grades. The man is SOVCO director Tonny Opiyo.

And then there's the problem of school fees. Many of you already sponsor children like Hamis, shown here with his guardian, a blind woman of about 100 years old. His sponsors pay $20 a month to fund his education. This has allowed him to attend a nearby boarding school, taking the pressure off his "jaja" and giving him a much better education. But the necessity to send some of the children to boarding school, and as they get older, to secondary school, puts an extra strain on the SOVCO budget.

So the educational needs are great, but resources are hard to come by. SOVCO has great plans to someday build a school to cater to local children, and they have even prepared a big pile of bricks to use when the time comes. And there are shorter-term goals as well, like supporting the efforts of local parents, programs for girls, and helping children for whom boarding school is the best option. So here's what we came up with: Jewels for Schools!

A group of moms (called Women of Hope) in the village in Uganda make jewelry from paper beads, which I sell in the store where I work and on a website. Right now, I have a HUGE overstock of bracelets. So we were thinking, it would be great if you would be willing to take ten bracelets to sell at your school or workplace, or maybe at a farmers market or craft sale. Five dollars from the sale of each bracelet would go to the education fund, and the rest to Women of Hope as usual. There are two types of bracelets:

There are Simple Bracelets,which would sell for $10 And there are Wire Wrap Bracelets, which would sell for $15

So, what do you think? Would you be willing to sell ten of these bracelets to help the kids in Uganda get a better education? If so, I will send you the bracelets and cards with information about the project. And I will develop a poster or sign you can reproduce for a display if needed. All you have to do is reply to me and give me the address where I should send the bracelets, and if you have any preferences as to the type of bracelet you want. When you've sold your ten, send me a check. Maybe you'll want to ask for ten more! And another idea: this would make a great fundraiser for YOUR school! One third of the profit from each bracelet could benefit your school, one third for schools in Uganda, and one third for Women of Hope. Think what a great way to teach kids to care about those less fortunate! We could develop a curriculum to tell about the lives of kids in Uganda, each school or class could sponsor a child, the kids could have bead parties...oh, boy, here I go on ideas again! You get the picture...want to be part of it?