Meet the Students |
When the community leaders for Maori and the five
surrounding villages presented a request to my colleague Biggie and I to raise
funds for a new school we said yes. Even though we knew it was far more
ambitious than anything we had undertaken before! We were impressed by the
initiative and commitment the community had already shown in securing land and
a site plan. And the need was evident.
Reviewing Site Plan |
Shortly afterwards I returned to Canada and started the
fundraising. Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe Biggie and his wife, Modest, with a site
plan in hand, went about getting estimates for all the materials needed to
build the first classroom block. Since we started assisting grassroots projects
in 2006 we have always worked the same way. We ask what is needed. Then we
evaluate the requests. Once decisions are made we never just hand over money.
We source, buy and deliver all the materials and, when needed, hire labour.
Here in Canada the fundraising was off to a good start. Since
2006 Stuart and Victoria Lazier have (until now!) been anonymous angel donors
to the projects ZimArt has assisted. And they were the first people I
approached to tell the Maori story. The Laziers came on board immediately and
their generous donation was what made us feel that the goal to build the first
classroom block within a year was actually possible.
ZimArt’s direct fundraising initiatives, which included
raffling and auctioning sculptures, were sustained by clients and friends. Some
gave the school project a special boost. For example: when friends Jeremy
Fleming and Scott Miller held a yard sale last year, 100% of the proceeds went
to the school project.
One way and another we managed to reach the top of our
fundraising thermometer for the first classroom block last fall and
construction started in November 2011.
Community Leaders - Maori |
Join me for the next blog to find out how things have progressed
at the school building site since then.
Fran Fearnley
No comments:
Post a Comment