A small token for us makes a huge difference for them and improves the world for all of us.
___
Struggling, as many of us do, to decide what to buy friends or family for a birthday or holidays, I listened with great interest to Lawrence O’Donnell on his show the other evening. He described a project he partnered on with UNICEF to provide desks to school children in Malawi, who have never had them, and are relegated to sitting on the floor—usually dirt floor—for the whole school day with up to 90 kids per run-down classroom.
The “K.I.N.D.: Kids In Need Of Desks,” MSNBC/Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and UNICEF fundraising drive, raised over $7,000,000 as of January 2014 to provide desks in the UNICEF’s Schools for Africa network in Malawi as well as tuition support for girls.
|
Having never heard of Malawi, I decided to explore and learn more about it. The Republic of Malawi is a Central African country, landlocked by Zambia to the northeast, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and west. It has a population of 15,600,000 people with a per capita income of around $280 per year. Mainly agricultural and with half the population under the poverty line, it has relied heavily on foreign aid to feed its people. The country also suffers from extreme natural disasters—from drought to heavy rainfall—which contribute to its economic woes.
In addition, a catastrophic AIDS epidemic claims the lives of tens of thousands every year, and until only recently has been a taboo subject for years. In 2004, President Muluzi launched a program to tackle HIV-AIDS, revealing that his brother had died from the disease. With short life expectancy (57 years for women and 56 years for men) as well as a high infant mortality rate, education is a critical and required ingredient in getting the country out of dire economic straits and improving both life expectancy and standard of living. Although Malawi has made real progress since 2007 in achieving economic growth, it still has a long way to go.
The “K.I.N.D.: Kids In Need Of Desks,” MSNBC/Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and UNICEF fundraising drive, raised over $7,000,000 as of January 2014 to provide desks in the UNICEF’s Schools for Africa network in Malawi as well as tuition support for girls. The desks work out to $32.50 per student with a desk and bench for two students costing $65. Manufacturing is in Malawi, which provides jobs and stimulates the economy. There is no doubt that education is the one and only path out of poverty for people and countries, and more of it will directly contribute to making our world better for all.
In thinking about what to buy friends who pretty much have all they need, this seems to be a perfect gift. I donated two desks, one in each friend’s name, and to my delight they loved it and decided to spread the word and the wealth to others, benefiting more Malawi kids.
Should you decide to join the effort you can visit LastWordDesks.msnbc.com or UNICEF and donate as well. I hope that you do.
Photo1—UNICEF Malawi/2011/Chagara /Flickr
Photo2—UNICEF Malawi/2011/Chagara2 /Flickr
PLEASE “LIKE”, “TWEET”, “PIN” AND “SHARE” ON ALL YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS AS WELL AS COMMENT AT WILL.
MORE PIECES BY TSACH GILBOA ARE SIMPLY A CLICK ON HIS NAME AWAY.