Zoe’s Grant


Blog / Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Primary School Classroom Construction

Hey, does anyone remember a couple of years ago when I asked you for money? It wasn’t really for me, but I was still asking and it made me happy. Well, I’m asking again and it will make me happy once more if you’re able to give.

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This time it isn’t for me. GASP!? That’d be selfish. This time it’s for a friend of mine, Zoe. She’s basically doing the same thing that I did but lame and in Africa and not Ukraine raising money to build a room for the school where she’s now teaching in Lesotho. The current situation is less than ideal, some students are taught at the school and others are taught in abandoned houses far from school. Classrooms must be shared by multiple classes at a time because there isn’t enough space (speaking with a teaching background, even two classes combined is hard to work with even when they’re learning the same thing). It makes perfect sense to expand the existing school with a third room for learning and to bring the school together as a community.

I know Zoe from college. She was the roommate of one of the girls I dated in college and, get this, she dated my roommate. How did that happen? I’m pretty sure she thought I hated her for some reason thinks I’m the greatest person ever. Anyway, when I visited for my brother’s wedding, less than halfway through my Peace Corps service, I had a talk with her about her thoughts on joining. I naturally pushed her to do it. It made me very happy to find out that she did join, and jealous when I found out she got assigned to Africa, and then happy again because she got placed in one of the countries that gets cold.

Primary School Classroom Construction

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But Zoe’s Peace Corps service makes me really happy. I like to tell people she took a page out of my book and decided to write newsletters to friends and family back home. That makes me her inspiration. In these newsletters, I realize that we share many aspects of our service, and other parts of it vary vastly. We both had our struggles. We both hate admin paperwork. We both love what is being done in our countries. Through her stories, I get to relive moments of my service which I thought I had forgotten.

Anyway, Zoe is trying to build an extra room for her school. It’s a noble goal and it’s one that I really hope she achieves. I mean it when I say this, she can’t do it alone. If she could, she wouldn’t be asking for your help. I know that once I have the money in my bank account, I’m going to make a donation to fund her project. I know it’s going to the right place and for the right reason and it might not happen if Zoe hadn’t shown up. I speak from experience when I say, the host community and the Peace Corps volunteer are equally happy to receive the funds for the project.

So, this holiday season give some money and know you’re helping people who really need it more than that spoiled nephew of yours needs a new XBOX game. If you wanted to get me something, give to Zoe’s project instead. It doesn’t even have to be in my name.

In case you missed the link, it can be found here: Primary School Classroom Construction

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