Monday 28 April 2008

What has been done so far

So far, Amadou Antoine Diatta, the school's headmaster, and I have set up a sponsorship fund. This fund has the purpose of paying part of the tuition fee for the 24 poorest children of the school. We have decided against individual sponsorships, because situations can change fast in this country - the 24 poorest kids this month might not be the 24 poorest kids 6 months from now, and who can say that we'd be able to find new sponsors for those kids? So we decided to set up this fund.
Every monetary donation that is made to me for the school, I divide in 12 parts and mark them down over the following 12 months. Every month I take the amount for that month to the school.I hand over the money to Mr Diatta, usually in the presence of a third person (parent or other teacher), and we both sign each others sheets with the month and the amount.
We have decided that no family would get the entire tuition fee paid, as we both believe that things that are free are not as valued as things you have to make an effort for. But we are still very far from having to decide about that, as the monthly amount has not been over 1900 CFA per child yet. Tuition fees start from 3500 CFA for preschoolers and 1st graders and go to 6000 CFA for 6th graders.

First message

I have decided to start a blog for my sponsorship of Ecole Ousmane Sembène in Pikine, Dakar, Senegal. It will make it easier to post pictures and updates. Also the donators can find out at any time what has been done with their money.