Administer true justice, show mercy
and compassion to one another

(Zech. 7:9)

Project Aspire: School books for children

After independence in 1980, the new Zimbabwean government placed a huge emphasis on education. Zimbabweans across the country were educated in well funded schools by some of the best teachers on the African continent. University students were given scholarships to the best schools in the world and Zimbabweans excelled at every turn receiving numerous academic awards. In Zimbabwe the occupation of a teacher was both revered and respected. Through out the culture learning became the national pass time and parents made enormous sacrifices to see their children receive an education.

In the last 10 years, as the nation has suffered politically and economically, the education sector has been hit hard. Tragically its the children who have suffered the greatest. Over 30,000 teachers have left the country in search of higher paying jobs. The school buildings have deteriorated to such a point most have no running water or sanitation. The school curriculum hasn't been updated since 1982 and what is left is shared between 30 students to a single textbook. The situation in the country is dire as many schools are closed and the ones that can stay open have few books or school supplies.

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After touring the country in May of 2010, we discovered firsthand that there is a serious shortage of textbooks and library books in the country. Minister of Education David Coltart has secured a number of grants to purchase new textbooks but this won't be nearly enough to turn things around. One of the keys to transforming the nation is the revitalization of the education sector. We have to prepare the children to be the nations leaders in every segment of society.

After returning to the US, we discovered that similar to medical supplies, school books only have a few years lifespan in American schools. As new books are brought in, the used ones are sent to be ground up and recycled into cat litter or oil absorption products! In most cases the companies that supply the books are required in their contracts to dispose of the used books. They try and sell some, but 90% are sold off to recycling companies at a loss. In our case, a door has opened for a number of these companies to donate truckloads of books to Compassionate Justice in order to help us supply books to schools in Zimbabwe.

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In partnership with our friends from Deeper Waters (who currently sponsor 2 schools in Zimbabwe) we started sorting through pallets of donated books in June 2010. We worked through the summer with the goal to send over the first container to Zimbabwe in early October and we did it!!!. We hope to ship 3 more containers full of books and school supplies over within the next 12 months. The library books come to us in large "Gaylord's" from the recycling companies. Our team of volunteers and teachers then sort through them looking for subject matter appropriate for Zimbabwe. So far we've been keeping 2 out of 3 books and our team of educators is ecstatic over the reading material.

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Besides library and textbooks, we have been able to acquire a variety of classroom teaching aids including charts, graphs, large story books and pre-school manipulatives so the children can learn hands on. We are extremely excited by what we are sending over and know that it will be a huge boost in moral to Zimbabwe's teachers.

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The Compassionate Justice & Deeper Waters teams gathered at our underground warehouse in Kansas City to sort more books and pack the container for its journey to Zimbabwe. The whole container will be dropped at one of the schools to later be converted into a secure and weatherproof library. In January 2011, a team headed over from the US to supervise the containers conversion and the setting up of the library.

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Please consider helping us with the cost of $20,000 per container. This includes; purchasing the container, shipping & delivery costs and purchasing some school supplies like pens, pencils, paper, crayons, chalk etc.

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Since our first container we have continued to fight on behalf of Zimbabwe's children.  Our last container was loaded with over 15,000 books and teachings aids which were distributed to a many schools in southern Zimbabwe.  This happened in partnership with our friends at "Hope for Mtshabezi".  Here are just a few photos that tell the rest of the story...

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