My School Bag in Burundi

IN 2020 WE RENEW OUR APPEAL TO YOUR GENEROSITY IN DEVELOPING OUR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR CLOSE TO 1000 GIRLS AND BOYS

(clic here for a campaign flyer 2019 (same in 2020))

Why My School Bag?

Burundi is a small landlocked country in eastern Africa. It is very densely populated with over 11 million inhabitants and extremely poor. In terms of purchasing power parity, Burundi ranks second-worst in the world.

Schooling and professional training are only accessible to students who can afford to pay the compulsory uniform, the school bag and supplies. Poverty is their greatest barrier to education.

My School Bag is a non-profit organization that unites Burundi and Quebec, Canada.
Since its creation, more than 90 % of the donations received were distributed to children among the poorest
in the world, allowing them to exercise their fundamental right to education.

Our goal

Since 2006, your donations have paved the way for more than 1000 children, 53 % girls and 47% boys.
On the road to success, young Burundians became civil engineers, journalists, teachers, mechanics,
psychologist, computer technicians, etc.

Our challenge is to allow as many students as possible to benefit from professional training which will lead to jobs, giving autonomy both to them and their family.
We salute the commitment and dedication of the volunteers, on the field, who accompany the children, thus
increasing effectively school attendance.

“ Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world ” Nelson Mandela

On behalf of the children and the Burundi youth who are truly grateful for your support, We thank you.

Corinne

Facebook/Mon-Sac-Décole-My-School-Bag/

(if you clic on the facebook link, you will see the 2020 campaign flyer)

Christmas Wishes

Dear Contributors.

The end of the year is upon us. In spite of the pandemic, we would still like to come into your home to offer our best wishes, at least by mail.

No doubt we are all going through troubled times where everything seems paralysed. However, My School Bag is still very active in Canada and in Burundi where we can still easily reach the children who benefit from our help.

As we said in a previous mailing, in Burundi, it is the elder children, who were once helped by My School Bag, that allow us to reach the younger ones now. Being able to benefit from the human chain that has been built over the years is one of things we are most proud of; it also guarantees the success of the work provided by the team.

Currently, 2 students have passed the entrance exams at the OPDE Centre (Humanitarian work for the protection and development of children in difficulty). Therefore, their professional training is free. We can only imagine the incentive for other students interested in pursuing vocational training. All of this would not have been possible without your continued contributions to My School Bag.

We need each and every one of you to financially support this commitment.

These holidays will definitely not be what we are use to. Under the present circumstances, we can still continue to help build a world of justice for the most disadvantaged.

Despite the isolation and social distancing, we wish you a happy holiday filled with hope.

My School Bag

To grant the most deprived children of Burundi their rights to an education and this, until the end of their studies.

The following amounts are needed to allow a Burundi child to attend school:

25$/year / Elementary level
40$/year / High school level

This means that a child receives his own school bag which contains:

A mandatory school uniform (often his own decent clothing)
All the necessary school supplies according to the academic level of the student (notebooks, pencils, geometry set, ruler, etc.)

At university level, we provide some students with a sum of 250$/year.

Texte de Serge Bouchard – Anthropologue, écrivain et animateur

A human child is the living creature which, in order to grow, requires the most time care and attention. The body spends twenty years to fully develop while the brain needs a lifetime. It is by its intelligence, its spirit, and its recollection that the human is a human among humans. Learning is his universe.

If only one child in not in class during school hours, if only one child is deprived of his right to education, it is the whole humanity, which is in failure.

That only one child does not have enough to eat; has not access to drinking water; does not receive the necessary medical care; that only on is left as forgotten with no source of comfort, that a single child is used for immoral purposes, here are the historical scandals that exceed in severity any other upheavals of current events. The technological exploit and the economic growth are meaningless; they are even strictly speaking insane in the circumstances of these scandals nevertheless so well documented. We will never accomplish anything noble in the face of history as long as we, humans do not take irreproachable care of all the children of the world, undoubtedly and without any exception.

Serge Bouchard
January 2014
(free translation by Corinne Chatel)

Annual Campaign 2020-2021 | Goal : $40,000

My School Bag in Burundi

My School Bag

My School Bag

campaign 2020-2120

My School Bag

Give 2020-2021 Campaign

Event(s)

Christmas Wishes

Our mission

Le sac d'école

Texte de Serge Bouchard – Anthropologue, écrivain et animateur