Help children in Zambia get their first playground

Help us make dreams come true for children in Zambia!

 

I’m pairing up with a friend of mine, Stacey Dowling, to raise funds to get already donated playground equipment and other recreational and educational supplies to children in various villages in Zambia. Time is of the essence because the person that is donating his time to transport the equipment to  the railhead in Kansas City, will be loading the equipment on January 25, and all of the digging up and dismantling of the equipment will already need to be completed.

Back Story

A year and a half ago, my brother Matt, a retired teacher, volunteered through International Learning Institute (ILI), to go on a teaching project in various small villages throughout Zambia.  While he was working in one of these villages, a volunteer from ILI installed an old, donated slide. Now keep in mind there had never been any kind of playground equipment in this village (the only form of recreational equipment was a “soccer ball” made from old plastic bags tied up with twine), and they had never seen a slide before!   Matt said the excitement of the students, (and even adults) was like nothing he had ever seen!  The students and other villagers lined up throughout the day and into the night to go down the slide and were back at it early the next morning!  Throughout the time Matt was in this village, the children remained absolutely fascinated with the slide and school attendance increased.  Children living several miles away walked to the school to see the amazing slide, and then stayed for school!

Fast Forward

As most of you know, I am currently working at Bishop Elementary School in Englewood Public Schools. A bond election was passed a few years ago, and all the old Englewood elementary schools are being torn down (along with their playgrounds) and new ones are being built.  When I heard about it, I asked around to see if Bishop’s playground equipment could be donated to the schools in the various villages in Zambia.  The answer was yes, however, I needed to find someone willing to come to Bishop and truck  the equipment to the rail head in Kansas City.  A wonderful man named Mike said he will donate his time and semi-truck to the cause; even taking vacation days from his other job to do it.  Another man, Brian, is very graciously paying to have all the equipment taken by railcar to New York, and then shipped on to Africa as well.  Clearly, there have been many people who have been so supportive of this endeavor!

HUGE bump (mammoth boulder) in the road (This is where you come in!)

I just recently found out that there will be a cost to remove the equipment from its encasement in the ground, and then disassemble it for transport.   I had been told that this was being done for no charge, but someone misspoke, and now a HUGE wrench has been thrown into the works.  A wrench so large that it could very well put an end to the children in Zambia ever seeing this equipment. 

Bottom Line

The cost for the removal and disassembling of the equipment is $14,000, with a very real possibility it could be more once they get into the work and see what it entails. For that reason, we are asking for donations of $16,000.  We really want this to become a reality for these kids.

If, for some reason we are unable to raise the full amount to pay for the removal, all donated money will go to the Pilgrim Wesleyan Church in Zambia that oversees all of the 18 schools in Zambian villages.