Giving the Gift of Education

In Burundi, one of the poorest nations of the world, nine year old Artille and seven year old Christian, live with their Aunt Fredrika. They’ve become part of her family ever since they were orphaned some years back.

Artille and Christian would love to attend school.
Fredrika and her family. 

Fredrika is one of the trainees on the ‘Foundations for Farming’ training programme and so is learning how to farm in a way which yields far more than traditional farming methods. She’s eager to learn and has real hope that in time she will be able to grow enough food for the family, plus have a small income from the sale of surplus crops. When she’s not training, she’s looking for work as well as caring for the four children. Her husband spends every day searching for work and takes whatever work he can find to help support the family. They live is a tiny rented house, made of mud bricks. It has just 2 rooms and there’s no power, no water and there’s no sanitation either. It’s the only place they can afford. They don’t complain, but life is tough; incredibly tough.

Foundations for Farming trainees

Hope for Tomorrow Global has been helping to support Fredrika and her family with food each month, enough for a meal a day of maize and beans, plus daily milk for the children, to help prevent malnutrition. It’s making a big difference and the children are happy and healthy, but it’s not enough to give them the chance of a better future; a future free of the captivity of poverty.

Children receiving milk to help prevent malnutrition.

Fredrika longs for the children to be able to go to school. Right now Christian and Artille should be in Primary School, but although primary education is free in Burundi, children are only allowed to attend if they have a school uniform, including shoes, plus books and stationery. Sometimes they also have to contribute towards furniture, maintenance of the school building and even the teacher’s salary. These costs make it impossible for Christian and Artille, and literally thousands of other children in Burundi to attend school, denying them the chance to get an education.

In the communities we are working in, hundreds of families are among the poorest of the poor. Through no fault of their own, they are living in abject poverty. One of the ways to break the cycle of poverty is for the children to have the gift of education. Most young people in Burundi are desperate to go to school. They recognise that if they have an education they will have more choices in life; more opportunities and an increased chance of getting the better paid jobs when they are older.

Gift of Education

  • Education is one of the keys to breaking the cycle of poverty.
  • On average, £30 is all it takes to cover the cost of a uniform and essential items a primary-aged child needs to be able to attend school, and that’s for a whole year!

Would you like to give Christian and Artille and hundreds of other children in Burundi this life-changing opportunity? If so, please click here to donate. Any amount will make a huge difference. Thank you so much!

Click here to read about the impact of giving the gift of education.

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