Exciting News:

Update as of: December 27, 2009

News from Damongo

Dear friends,

A new year is upon us and I am pleased to report that the scholarship girls are doing well. I have just added a picture of the three girls we are presently sponsoring at SAGISS a cost of US$800 per year. That includes room and board, and of course books, tuition and uniform. The school is one of the finest in the country and these girls have demonstrated academic excellence in order to pass entrance exams. They are fortunate indeed as the headmistress at St. Anne''s, Gabriella, takes a personal interest in each and every girl, and treats each like extended family. As with students here, you can see that there were a pile of books required. The girls are in either grade eleven or grade twelve.

We have also gotten letters from the four girls (Safura, Samila, Nafkatu and Abagail) attending the vocational high school in Damongo, NDESCO. Madame Mary Temi is teacher/mentor there and is also a member of our scholarship committee. As with Gabriella, she follows the progress and nurtures each one of the scholarship girls. Mary sent along this note. "I write to say thank you and to show my appreciation and that of the headmaster of our school for the wonderful support you and your foundation have given to several of our needy girls. Your assistance has been very helpful for the girls and we hope and pray that the good Lord in his own way will grant you your heart''s desires and hope that you will continue to help the needy girls to the highest level. We also hope that you will get more support so that more of such students can benefit from the package.....Thank you, Azotikemah Mary Teni"

NDESCO student Abigail writes, "I was so happy when I heard that you have given money for the payment of school fees and other needs. My parents too were very grateful and they said at last God had answered their prayers by bringing someone to help them to pay for my fees. They extend their sincerest thanks and appreciation for giving them such help. I am so happy I do not know how to express my gratitude....and I promise that I will not misuse this great opportunity.....I have not forgotten the story you told me about the old woman and her grandson with the groundnuts at our first meeting. I will end here with greetings to you and all your loved ones. Yours sincerely, Senzu Afibuh Abigail."

Although it is true in Canada it is even more true in Africa: education empowers women and gives them options for the future. Not only will the lives of these girls be changed forever, but it is the African way for a woman to support other girls. Each educated girl has the potential to improve both their communities and their country, and will never see their own children uneducated. You can see the ''education'' legacy continues over the years.

I will end with the story of the groundnuts that Abigail referred to. It was told to us by our driver Sule. He said his grandfather was very wise, and well respected in their village. The teenage boys who were behaving badly would not listen to others but would listen to him. So one day Sule ask him how he became such a wise man, and how to live a life well. His grandfather told him to go away and come back in one hour. That he did. When he returned, there were ten groundnuts laying out in a row. Just by looking at them he could tell that the last one was rotten. His grandfather told him to eat the peanuts. He asked if he had to eat them all, and his grandfather said that he must. So he ate the first nine, and they were delicious. Then he gagged down the tenth one. His grandfather said, "Now, which flavor do you remember most, the good nuts or the bad nut?" He replied that the taste of the bad one was still in his mouth. The grandfather said, "Even though there were nine good nuts, you remember the bad one. And it is the same with life. You can do nine good acts, but if you do a bad act that is what people will remember. So all your acts must be kind and honourable". I thought it was a very good story, so I told it to each of the scholarship recipients when we met.

We thank you once again for all that you have done to give these girls such an opportunity.

Marilyn

Update as of: April, 2009

Dear Friends,

We want to keep you up to date with the most recent happenings so you know how much difference a few dollars can make in the lives of Ghanaian girls.

With ongoing donations from Rotary Club of Edmonton South, the Wild Rose Foundation, and some personal donors, we are once again able to offer a good number of scholarships to promising young girls so they are able to attend junior high, senior high, or post secondary education this fall. If the year end marks of the twelve girls we sponsored this past year are good, we will continue to fund them and expand the program to include at least 24 more girls.

To make the transfer of fund easier, we are working on registering our Foundation as an NGO in Ghana. Being able to control our funds on both ends would streamline the transfer of funds substantially, so we are moving forward with that little project.

As you may be aware, Tools for Schools Africa Foundation has been working for some time on a fundraising event called GHANA GOLD, a small dinner at which we planned to explain the work of the organization, thank donors and give away A Luxury Kenya Safari for two (which was donated to us for this event) as a door prize.

While we had considered staging the event in early June, we are taking time to ensure that all relevant issues are properly addressed. The event is now likely to proceed in the fall. If you were one of the fine people that had been approached to attend this event, we sincerely appreciate your consideration and hope we may contact you once again when the event proceeds. Your interest in our projects and organization is greatly valued. Please feel free to contact any of us for further information or clarification on this dinner or any other Tools for Schools Africa issue.

We hope you will take a minute to check out the fine African paintings and other gifts for sale on this website. Within a couple weeks, more paintings will be arriving, so please check back and help us support these fine young artists. From the selling price, the artists are paid directly and a small selling commission goes to Tools for Schools Africa.

Thanks again to the fine people who have been involved with Tools for Schools Africa over the long term, including the Board of Directors, Norm Dueck, Val Sandall, Jean Mudd, Doug Sather and our awesome webmaster, Sandy Stepien. We so appreciate all that all of you have done and continue to do to help African girls get an education.

Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks again for your support and interest in the project.

Marilyn Pottage

We have a new "Gift Ideas" page. Please check it out and consider supporting our project through the purchase of something unique and special from these items.

Read the article about Tools for Schools Africa Foundation, by Penny Caster of the Red Deer Advocate. Or download this article in PDF format.

Most Exciting News:
Watch a 10 minute podcast narrated by Marilyn Pottage, who summarizes the project's past, present and future. Very interesting, please don't miss it!
(created Feb. 2008)

Tool for School Africa became a legally registered Incorporated Society in Alberta as of 2008/04/16. (#5013897987), and has since become a legally registered Foundation. As of October 28, 2008, we have changed all reference to 'Tools for Schools Africa Society' to read 'Tools for Schools Africa Foundation'.

Tools for Schools Africa & GiveMeaning
Tools for Schools Africa has recently partnered with the GiveMeaning website in an effort to assist us in our fundraising efforts. You can read all about the GiveMeaning site, and more importantly, review our project pages on their site.

We want you to know that all donations are tax deductable and we guarantee 100% of your dollars will go directly to the project as all staff are volunteers and pay their own costs.  Donations in any amount are appreciated.



Gift Ideas

Please preview the new "Gifts" page here.

Looking for a unique gift idea? Want to create a brighter future for African children? Give a gift with meaning - for only $20 you can purchase a teachers' manual written specifically for African teachers.

For that hard-to-buy-for relative or friend, consider purchasing a manual in their name.

In July 2008, five Red Deer teachers will provide teacher inservice training for 500 local African teachers in Northern Ghana. Each teacher participant will receive a manual with the name of your choice proudly displayed inside the front cover.

* read more about this in the Feb. 10/08 Journal Entry.

Your tax deductible donation can be made online at: www.givemeaning.org/project/Damongo.

OR

Cheques can be made payable to:
Canadians Reaching Out
4757-56 Street
Red Deer. AB T4N 2K2

click here to go to the new Gifts page

Contact us for more info