Help Jonas Go to Sterling College!
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(Note: this site, which we are grateful for, does take 7.9% in processing fees to run. For those wishing 100% of their donations to be received by Jonas, you can make checks payable to "Sterling College" and send to 16 Sterling Dr, Craftsbury Common, VT 05827 with "Jonas Kambire" in the memo.)
Thirteen years ago I served in the Bougouriba region of Burkina Faso, West Africa as a health worker with the Peace Corps from 2002-2004. I was assigned to Tioyo, a tiny village hours away from telephone, running water, and electricity. Having traveled to many countries around the world I thought I understood poverty. However I remember being completely unprepared for what life was like in the one of the poorest regions of the world’s third poorest country.
This is where I came to know Jonas, then a young boy of 8. (You can read more about Jonas and his family here. ) His family’s compound consisted of a mud hut and three large rocks for cooking. No chairs, no mattresses, no latrine…nothing else. As a large family of subsistence farmers, they didn’t have much to share as they lived purely from what their land yielded, but everything they did have they gladly shared with me. Typically they would have one meal a day which consisted of millet grain. During “hungry season” (the months between planting a crop and waiting for harvest), this one meal a day became one meal every other day. Once or twice a year during holidays, they would celebrate with a special meal—rice or spaghetti, with maybe a few ounces of meat for each person if there was a chicken to spare. When money was needed (50 cents to cure someone with malaria, or a dollar for Jonas’ elementary school fees), it was up to Jonas’ mother to figure out which of their few animals they could sell. When there was nothing to sell, it was up to Jonas himself to figure out how to pay for his school and he often worked selling dried fish and vegetables at market for pennies a day.
Every morning I walked outside to find Jonas sitting on my terrace with a huge smile, almost always with a gift in hand (some of my favorite bush fruit, a pet of the day such as a chameleon or a hedgehog, and sometimes little toys made from my recycled trash). During the early morning hours and noontime break, he was always at my house so we could go over his school lessons, and the evening always found me sitting around the fire outside of his family’s hut. Jonas helped me to experience Burkina through the eyes of a child and love village life the way he did: the joy of dancing in the rain; pond fishing with baskets, harvesting shea butter; catching termites for chickens or for our snacks; tracking the village crocodile; making games out of broken shoes and stones; waiting for the next big adventure which was surely just around the corner. He taught me to how to tend a garden, perfect the art of transporting water on my head, and how to cultivate maize, peanuts, and rice. Jonas and his family helped to keep me safe during my time in village. Several times when I was gravely ill, it was his family who watched over and cared for me, and ensured that I could get on the bus to the capital when I was in need of healthcare.
As I came to know Jonas and his family, I promised that I would do everything within my power to help provide for a brighter future and education for him and his school aged siblings. As a young adult of just 20 years old myself at the time (and a volunteer at that), I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep my promise, just that I would.
Since then, my family and I have served as an educational and financial sponsor for Jonas and his family as much as possible given our modest means. As we continue to support two of his sisters back in Burkina, we have hit the threshold of what our wallets can bear and are now looking to creative ways to finance his university education here in the United States. (Such as selling these really cool wine racks . Want one?)
Our fundraising goal is $8k by January 15, 2016 so that he can start school in late January (contingent on his student visa approval, he will enroll at St. Michael's College here in Vermont).
May 2016 update: Due to the generous support of 55 individulas, Jonas was able to attend the Intensive English Program at St. Michael's college where he excelled! As a result of his hard work, he was accepted to Sterling College and will start a four year program in Sustainable Agriculture in August of 2016. Due to acadmic achievement and merit, he has received $30k a year in scholarships!! The remaining balance is $16k a year (which includes room and board). Unfortunately, because of his international student status, he is not eligible for loans and it is illegal for him to work with the exception of a few on-campus jobs when school is in session.
Jonas has not had an easy time in life, but despite the odds, it now feels like the universe is conspiring in his favor. We are incredibly appreciative of all of the support and genorosity of spirit we and Jonas have been shown these past several years during his journey. Thank you for helping to make a dream come true!
You can also learn more about Jonas and where we comes from by checking out this video below (or by reading this article from 2014, or this one from 2015.)
Thirteen years ago I served in the Bougouriba region of Burkina Faso, West Africa as a health worker with the Peace Corps from 2002-2004. I was assigned to Tioyo, a tiny village hours away from telephone, running water, and electricity. Having traveled to many countries around the world I thought I understood poverty. However I remember being completely unprepared for what life was like in the one of the poorest regions of the world’s third poorest country.
This is where I came to know Jonas, then a young boy of 8. (You can read more about Jonas and his family here. ) His family’s compound consisted of a mud hut and three large rocks for cooking. No chairs, no mattresses, no latrine…nothing else. As a large family of subsistence farmers, they didn’t have much to share as they lived purely from what their land yielded, but everything they did have they gladly shared with me. Typically they would have one meal a day which consisted of millet grain. During “hungry season” (the months between planting a crop and waiting for harvest), this one meal a day became one meal every other day. Once or twice a year during holidays, they would celebrate with a special meal—rice or spaghetti, with maybe a few ounces of meat for each person if there was a chicken to spare. When money was needed (50 cents to cure someone with malaria, or a dollar for Jonas’ elementary school fees), it was up to Jonas’ mother to figure out which of their few animals they could sell. When there was nothing to sell, it was up to Jonas himself to figure out how to pay for his school and he often worked selling dried fish and vegetables at market for pennies a day.
Every morning I walked outside to find Jonas sitting on my terrace with a huge smile, almost always with a gift in hand (some of my favorite bush fruit, a pet of the day such as a chameleon or a hedgehog, and sometimes little toys made from my recycled trash). During the early morning hours and noontime break, he was always at my house so we could go over his school lessons, and the evening always found me sitting around the fire outside of his family’s hut. Jonas helped me to experience Burkina through the eyes of a child and love village life the way he did: the joy of dancing in the rain; pond fishing with baskets, harvesting shea butter; catching termites for chickens or for our snacks; tracking the village crocodile; making games out of broken shoes and stones; waiting for the next big adventure which was surely just around the corner. He taught me to how to tend a garden, perfect the art of transporting water on my head, and how to cultivate maize, peanuts, and rice. Jonas and his family helped to keep me safe during my time in village. Several times when I was gravely ill, it was his family who watched over and cared for me, and ensured that I could get on the bus to the capital when I was in need of healthcare.
As I came to know Jonas and his family, I promised that I would do everything within my power to help provide for a brighter future and education for him and his school aged siblings. As a young adult of just 20 years old myself at the time (and a volunteer at that), I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep my promise, just that I would.
Since then, my family and I have served as an educational and financial sponsor for Jonas and his family as much as possible given our modest means. As we continue to support two of his sisters back in Burkina, we have hit the threshold of what our wallets can bear and are now looking to creative ways to finance his university education here in the United States. (Such as selling these really cool wine racks . Want one?)
Our fundraising goal is $8k by January 15, 2016 so that he can start school in late January (contingent on his student visa approval, he will enroll at St. Michael's College here in Vermont).
May 2016 update: Due to the generous support of 55 individulas, Jonas was able to attend the Intensive English Program at St. Michael's college where he excelled! As a result of his hard work, he was accepted to Sterling College and will start a four year program in Sustainable Agriculture in August of 2016. Due to acadmic achievement and merit, he has received $30k a year in scholarships!! The remaining balance is $16k a year (which includes room and board). Unfortunately, because of his international student status, he is not eligible for loans and it is illegal for him to work with the exception of a few on-campus jobs when school is in session.
Jonas has not had an easy time in life, but despite the odds, it now feels like the universe is conspiring in his favor. We are incredibly appreciative of all of the support and genorosity of spirit we and Jonas have been shown these past several years during his journey. Thank you for helping to make a dream come true!
You can also learn more about Jonas and where we comes from by checking out this video below (or by reading this article from 2014, or this one from 2015.)
Organizer
Kate Eddy Larose
Organizer
Saint Albans, VT