Hello, my name is Marit Sawyer, and I help educators in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Guinea-Bissau is a small country just south of Senegal that is incredibly poor due to lack of educational opportunity and infrastructure, and stunted economic development. I taught English there in 2018, 2019, and 2021. I continue to work with educators and students there to sponsor small infrastructure projects that improve teaching and learning environments for children and adults. These projects are proposed and implemented by educators there. They share their idea with me and I vet the project, raise funds, and follow the project's progress. For example, in 2021, supporters helped me raise $750 to bring electricity to a primary school, Escola Mambi Bô, in the capital city, Bissau, so that parents could take night classes to learn to read, write and do math - and become educated with their children. The program is still active!

This year we need to raise $900 so that another school in a different part of Bissau, Escola Portuguesa Dula Baldé, can build a dividing wall in their new, large and beautiful but echoing building to make two smaller, quieter classrooms. This will allow twice as many students to go to school during the day and parents to go to school at night. Watch the fundraiser slideshow for pictures of both schools.

This project’s plan includes the cost for all lumber, screws and other structural materials. Here is a list of estimated costs (xof = West African Francs):

Beams......................................120,000 xof ($200)

Framing materials....................120,000 xof ($200)

Drywall......................................255,000 xof ($423)

Bushings and Screws..................5,000 Xof ($ 8)

TOTAL ESTIMATED COST....500,000 xof ($830)

The school has workmen and staff to build the wall. I will post pictures of the project as it gets going, as the wall is finished, and with students using the classrooms.

Please realize that many children do not even have an opportunity to go to school in Guinea-Bissau, and the literacy rate is only about 50%. Literacy and numeracy are critical to moving the nation forward and giving people options. This project will address that issue on a small scale. Each project addresses this huge problem piece by piece. Please help build this wall that will bring education and freedom to children and adults. Thank you for your help!