IB Community Theme: Sharing our humanity

At our school in the south Sweden, there is a student organisation called

Make Poverty History

About 60 students work, parallel to their studies, fighting Poverty. Malmö Borgarskola is ONE school, and here is what we have accomplished since 2005 - when the organisation was founded:

•  We have raised about 70,000 Swedish Kronor ($1,200/€8,000). This has been sent mainly to a school in South Africa, and a hospital in Uganda.
• We have collected toys, clothes and other necessities for orphanages in Serbia, Bosnia and Latvia.
• We have collected glasses for the optician at the hospital in Uganda.
• We have raised awereness about poverty at our school.
• We have initiated a cooperation between our school in Sweden, and Somfula High School in South Africa. This provides for cultural interaction, and exchange of knowledge.

Imagine how much that could be accomplished if TEN schools did the same thing, or A HUNDRED... Maybe this is something for your school? This is how we went about to collect money ($1 = 6 kr; €1 = 9 kr) - get inspired:

• Students bake. We sell this in the staffroom every day. 600 per week
• We are always present at school events, selling coffee,biscuits, snacks etc. 2,000-3,000 kr. per event
• Making greeting cards and selling.
  Last Christmas, the children in South Africa drew xmas cards which we printed and sold. 5,000 kr.
•  Theme Day ("MPH-day"). We sold all kinds of things, had contests, talks etc. 7,000 kr.
• Charity Gala at a Club, Malmö@Uganda. 25,000 kr.
• We advertise; We inform; We're everywhere, all the time. Students, teachers, parents - everyone knows about us!
  This provides for donations. If other school organisations have money which they won't use, or make a large profit, this usually goes to us!
• CD. We have recorded a song called "Let's Make Poverty History" in a studio. We are selling the CD for 30 kr each.

The list can go on and on, just contact us if you are in need of ideas!

It's not all about the money, but I provided some examples of how much we have raised doing these simple things. Yes, LDCs are in need of money, but they are also in need of guidance. I was in South Africa working at Somfula a year ago. The students want to help, and therefore projects like the Xmas cards mentioned above are great. This way they are helping themselves; empowerment.

My point is, that communication is important. Both with the hospital (Kisiizi Hosp in Uganda) and Somfula HS (in South Africa) we have contacts that make sure the money is used properly. We usually arrange for a specific purpose of the money, along with the school/hospital. This way, we know it gets there, we know it is spent properly, and our work here is not undone. 

So get a group of people, arrange for a first meeting. Together you can choose an area that YOU want to help, do some research. Then brainstorm ideas and make it happen.

If you have ANY questions, feel free to contact me on thorellsofia@hotmail.com.

Let's make poverty history