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Our mission: Let's have books for education for every child, so that they can thrive in this world. Let every child be the best that he/she can be.
Dr. Sreekala Prabhakaran, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, went to Zambia for 2.5 weeks on a medical mission trip in the summer of 2018. While she worked as a medical doctor there, she fell in love with the community and the people. She saw not only the medical necessities but also the lack of educational resources for the children. She encountered another physician, Dr. Stephen Chanda who is a Zambian doctor and had been working with the community for several years. They developed a professional bond, and kept in touch after she left Zambia.
When Dr. Prabakaran came back, she contemplated what the best way to help the children of Zambia was, as she may not be able to visit them anytime soon. As a pediatrician, she felt compassion for them, and thought that medicine can only heal so much. She was unsure of how to help until Dr. Chanda stated that they have a community school (Lugwasyo Community School) in the village with around 600 children from 1st -7th grade. Dr. Chanda and Dr. Prabhakaran realized that a hindrance to the children's education was lack of books and poverty. The teacher had only one book copy to teach from in each class. The school was unable to provide each child with all the books due to costs and limited resources. Furthermore, the families could not afford the books on their own. Zambia’s literacy rate stands at 55.3 percent, with illiteracy much more pronounced in females than males.
According to the African Library Project, in Sub-Saharan Africa :
- More than 1 in 3 adults cannot read.
- 182 million adults are unable to read and write.
- 48 million youths (ages 15-24) are illiterate.
- 22% of primary aged children are not in school.
- That makes 30 million primary aged children who are not in school.
Hence, Dr. Prabakaran reached out to like-minded people, such as myself (Dr. Nirupama Gupta), a pediatric nephrologist at the University of Florida, to help with her mission.
We hope that we can reach our goal to buy all of the books for each child in the village of Zambia, who attend Choma community school. Each child will receive the needed text book for each class. We hope to provide enough copies for the school to lend out. In the future, we hope that we can continue to provide a small amount of sum to the school so that the children will be able to keep those books as well. We hope that any extra money will also provide additional school supplies (papers, pens, backpacks etc) and infrastructure for the children.
This is a small project that we envision will continue to grow and be sustained by the contributions of you all.
PLEASE DONATE NOW AS EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
Our goal: Let's improve literacy for all. By improving literacy and education, we hope that it will help to build the community.
Dr. Sreekala Prabhakaran, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, went to Zambia for 2.5 weeks on a medical mission trip in the summer of 2018. While she worked as a medical doctor there, she fell in love with the community and the people. She saw not only the medical necessities but also the lack of educational resources for the children. She encountered another physician, Dr. Stephen Chanda who is a Zambian doctor and had been working with the community for several years. They developed a professional bond, and kept in touch after she left Zambia.
When Dr. Prabakaran came back, she contemplated what the best way to help the children of Zambia was, as she may not be able to visit them anytime soon. As a pediatrician, she felt compassion for them, and thought that medicine can only heal so much. She was unsure of how to help until Dr. Chanda stated that they have a community school (Lugwasyo Community School) in the village with around 600 children from 1st -7th grade. Dr. Chanda and Dr. Prabhakaran realized that a hindrance to the children's education was lack of books and poverty. The teacher had only one book copy to teach from in each class. The school was unable to provide each child with all the books due to costs and limited resources. Furthermore, the families could not afford the books on their own. Zambia’s literacy rate stands at 55.3 percent, with illiteracy much more pronounced in females than males.
According to the African Library Project, in Sub-Saharan Africa :
- More than 1 in 3 adults cannot read.
- 182 million adults are unable to read and write.
- 48 million youths (ages 15-24) are illiterate.
- 22% of primary aged children are not in school.
- That makes 30 million primary aged children who are not in school.
Hence, Dr. Prabakaran reached out to like-minded people, such as myself (Dr. Nirupama Gupta), a pediatric nephrologist at the University of Florida, to help with her mission.
We hope that we can reach our goal to buy all of the books for each child in the village of Zambia, who attend Choma community school. Each child will receive the needed text book for each class. We hope to provide enough copies for the school to lend out. In the future, we hope that we can continue to provide a small amount of sum to the school so that the children will be able to keep those books as well. We hope that any extra money will also provide additional school supplies (papers, pens, backpacks etc) and infrastructure for the children.
This is a small project that we envision will continue to grow and be sustained by the contributions of you all.
PLEASE DONATE NOW AS EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
Our goal: Let's improve literacy for all. By improving literacy and education, we hope that it will help to build the community.