In October, a new school year will begin at the Community School of Cansamange, and we need your help to make it a great one!

186 students are registered to attend class in grades K-3 in this small, rural village in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. They learn to read, write, do math, and have physical education. It's the only school around for miles, and the only one accessible to the hundreds of children who live in this area of the country (Bafata Region, Xitole Sector for those familiar with Guinea-Bissau.)

This year, fundraising in the US will be used to fund teachers' salaries for 9 months, and there are also a few one-time expenses we are asked to help cover: a canteen building so that the children can be served breakfast in the morning, with food provided by the Ministry of Education; six windows for the school building; and a laptop to replace the failing one used by the school's volunteer administrator, Sika Balde, to take care of the school's business with the government, file paperwork, format exams.

Changes this year include one new additional teacher - fabulous! - and one who will be getting advanced training for part of each day in the town of Xitole. That training is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The government will also pay for breakfast for the children, provided there is another building in which to store, prepare and serve the food (thus the need for the canteen.)

The shared funding structure for the school calls for all families to pay an annual registration fee for each student they send to school, and make in-kind contributions towards the costs associated with providing housing and food for the school's teachers, and general upkeep of the school. The registration fee will cover one month of teacher's salaries, registration paperwork filed with the Ministry of Education, and consumables like chalk, pens and paper. The families also provide uniforms for their students, which is required by the government.

Then, fundraising from friends around the world, collected via this campaign, pays the remainder of the school's operating costs, including 9 months of salaries for teachers, and administration costs; and this year also the one-time infrastructure costs outlined above.

The government of Guinea-Bissau officially recognizes this school, but does not have resources to support its operations. Thus, this shared funding structure between families and other friends outside Guinea-Bissau makes this school possible. The families in Cansamange are all subsistence farmers, growing enough crops to feed their families, but not earning money from their work other than from the sale of their one cash crop, cashews, once a year. Their registration fee comes from this one cash event, leaving them with just enough funds to purchase additional food to feed their families during the "hungry season" - the time when last year's harvest has run out and before the new crop is in.

Students at the Community School of Cansamange study in grades K-3, and are taught in Portuguese, which is a second language to everyone in this Fula village but also the official language of Guinea-Bissau.

This year's budget includes:

Salaries for three teachers: $3,575 USD

(for 9 months; 1 month of salaries will be paid by the families' registration fees)

Administration: $1,153 USD

(administrator travel to village 3x/yr, administrator monthly stipend; annual student registration paperwork with Ministry of Education will be paid by the families' registration fees)

One-time expenses:

Canteen building: $1,084 USD

6 windows: $545 USD

Replacement laptop: $689 USD

Consumables (chalk, pencils, paper) and registration paperwork with Ministry of Education to be paid by families' registration fee

Total: $7046 USD > $7100 fundraising goal to cover GoFundMe fees, WU transfer fees, and unexpected costs

As you can see, your gift goes a long way in Guinea-Bissau! Every student who attends school here learns how to read and write and do math. Older students learn geography and history. These are things we take for granted elsewhere, but are by no means a given in rural villages in Guinea-Bissau. Thank you for considering a gift to this year's campaign, which will benefit many, many children who need your support!