By Lea Barry
Even though we all may complain about all of our homework, tests and so on, education is a tool which far too many children still do not have access to.
Education For All is a non-profit organization which was founded by UNESCO. It works towards providing education for children all over the world. Ms. Coppens (a primary school teacher) brought the organization to LGB in 2000 after her visit to Sierra Leone. She was shocked about the aftermath of the civil war and noticed that an extreme number of children did not have an education.
Hence, she began to raise money and receive grants from the government to build a school in a rural town in Sierra Leone. Since then Ms. Coppens has not only constructed several school buildings but she has provided school materials, uniforms, aid in community development etc. A few years ago she also began to provide scholarships for some of the students. It only costs 100 francs to fund a child’s education for a year in Sierra Leone. Ms. Coppens current goal is to raise enough money to construct another school building because there are currently 80 students in one classroom at a time.
The Education For All group meets once a week during morning break in the chateau or the primary school. The group is largely student run and we work on ideas on how to raise money to aid this cause, for instance with bake sales or by selling bracelets. Feel free to contact me (lea.barry@learning.ecolint.ch) or martine.coppens@learning.ecolint.ch
