The project is designed to raise support as part of an effort to provide school supplies for the Sudanese children. The material, which includes 24 stories based on the lives of the children, will help North American students to appreciate the struggles of kids overseas.
“Each week, the kids are influenced by the courage and witness of children in other parts of the world,” says Steve Burger, who coordinates the project for the Department of Christian Formation, which is working with Covenant World Relief (CWR). “They also become aware of how Christ is working in other parts of the world.”
Burger says the project is designed to run between December and the end of May 2007, although the material can be used in a shorter time span. Churches do not have to use all of the stories – and they can double up each week, he notes. As part of the project, students are asked to bring donations to their classes.
Previous projects have included providing schools and supplies for students in Congo and helping to fund an orphanage in China. “Children in other parts of the world are absolutely amazed that children in other areas would help them go to school,” Burger says.
Funds collected from the project further help the students because the materials are purchased whenever possible through local suppliers in the designated country so that the money circulates through that local economy.
Burger says he continues to be amazed at how hard North American children work to help with the project. “They’ll take on extra jobs, like raking leaves, just so they can raise more money.”
The emphasis on Sudan for grade-school children follows a summer during which other Covenanters offered their support to people of that country, which has suffered the ravages of war for more than 50 years. High school students at CHIC 2006 packaged food for the Sudanese and raised $100,000 to build a medical clinic and schools. However, educational supplies still remains a great need, says Jim Sundholm, CWR director.
To learn more about the project, visit the School Supplies for Sudan website, which also contains contact information and an overview of previous school supply projects.
