The school near your house is charging an astronomical fee; with your parents out of the picture you simply can’t afford it. You’re disappointed but that’s OK you found this really great boarding school that won’t charge you, they just ask that you work hard.
It’s your first day and things are going great, the other students are in the same position as you, and everyone’s ready to buckle down and work hard.
Now the fun begins, your first class, geography. First you realize there’s no electricity that day because the power company jacked up the prices and the school can’t afford to pay for electricity. You’re a little disappointed because you can’t see your teacher’s powerpoint showing maps of countries around the world, but it’s no big deal. These things happen, and the geography book you share with your two other desk-mates works too.
Then you realize that without electricity there will also be no light to do homework. This means you can’t study at night… this is a slight problem with your Algebra test in a few days, but with a few hours before the sun sets some time can still be devoted to factoring polynomials.
Finally it’s nighttime and you really enjoyed your first day making friends and having some structured classes at last. You’re sure that tomorrow will go more smoothly and are getting ready for your shower before you go to bed. As you enter the shower area and reach for the water to pour over your body, you are shocked. It’s freezing!
No electricity AND no hot water? What else could go wrong?
Take this day and repeat it over and over again. It would probably make you want to go home.
In Uganda’s Peace Primary School that is not an option. These problems are every day ordeals and the students overlook these difficulties in their attempts to continue their education. Their commitment and hard work never ceases to astound me. This astonishment comes from the girl who likes to prelude her studying with a Starbucks grande iced skim vanilla latte – light on the ice please.
The children aren’t asking for iced lattes, they’re asking for clean water, consistently available electricity, a water heater, and a form of fuel to cook meals with.
By teaming up with AHEAD Energy, Givology would like to help provide sustainable forms of energy to this school.
Through our Givology campaign, what if we each gave up that one thing we need to get us through the week, take that money we save and donate it towards the Givology project for the Peace Primary School?
I know, I know, it’s practically blasphemy to ask people to make sacrifices. But let’s really consider what this means before we cling to our cosmopolitans, lattes, and green tea fro-yo.
Whether it’s keeping yourself from buying a few less drinks at the bar, going with a smaller dose of your usual caffeine rush, walking by that delectable bakery on your way home from work, or ignoring the crazy sales going on at H&M... it's not really blasphemous to ask for this, right?
Donating your small sacrifice not only helps the kids at the Peace Primary School, but it fosters the message of Givology, we don’t want to wait for you to strike it rich and donate a million dollars (that doesn’t mean we would mind if you did!). We’re asking for as many people to contribute whatever they can.
Because we're always learning to give.