Hi.
I’m really excited that we’re going to be doing a charity event, because it gives me the opportunity to help one of my favorite charities: BuildOn.
I have been involved with BuildOn for a couple of years now, and I am fully convinced that their cause is a worthy one.
BuildOn (previously Building with Books), builds schools in developing countries. Building schools implies one thing: the provision of education.
Fact: “One in five adults in the developing world — almost 862 million people — cannot read or write” (do something.org)
BuildOn provides free education to the people of these communities, delivered to the community by the literate members, who are trained by BuildOn. There are both adult and student classes, which cover topics from reading and writing, to agriculture and hygiene: these are topics that benefit the people, as they work towards improving their communities, and hopefully breaking the cycle of poverty.
Fact(s):
(a) “Most illiterate persons are female. In more than 20 developing nations, illiteracy rates amongst women exceed 70% […] Social traditions and deep-rooted religious and cultural beliefs are most often the barriers to expanding girls’ educational opportunities in undeveloped countries around the world […] Educated girls and women are less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, are more likely to marry later, raise fewer children who are more likely to go to school, and make important contributions to family income.” (do something.org)
Before BuildOn lays one brick, they enter into a covenant with the community that BuildOn will provide the supplies needed for construction, as long as the community provides volunteer days and a promise that an equal number of girls and boys will be educated in the schools.
The pursuit of education is one that will benefit these poor communities by teaching them to sustain themselves. People in these communities will learn better agricultural methods, better hygienic and health practices, and will live longer and prosper more.
In a nutshell, we should donate to buildOn for these reasons:
1. buildOn provides education, and education improves lives.
2. buildOn ensures that the benefits of education are supplied equally to both genders in the community
3. Education really can help these communities out of poverty.
To learn more about buildOn, go to: http://www.buildon.org/
*Facts found at: http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-education-around-world
