Five hundred children was the goal in our hearts and minds when a group of Bolivian young adult Friends thought that making peace was possible in the place where we live. It was a short-term project that we called “School Material for Kids.” We started raising funds at the yearly meeting level. Young adult Friends from one of the yearly meetings sold sandwiches and refreshments in a neighborhood fair. They earned enough money to buy pencils, pens, notebooks, colors, erasers, rules, and markers. The other group of young adult Friends from a different yearly meeting arranged to get donations of school materials at their local Friends churches. The last group of young adult Friends bought the school materials by themselves with some money donations at the individual level, and with money saved previously by their youth group. All of these young adult Friends worked with devotion and hope for the sake of the children and for the Lord.
After three months the day of collecting the school materials arrived and all of these young adult Friends brought them in bags and in boxes. We were grateful to God, and excited about getting many school materials so we could deliver them to the children who live in neighborhoods where the economic inequality oppresses parents and their children. Whenever we took these school materials to the kids of elementary schools, we came back as if we had visited Heaven—wonderful moments and stories experienced! Thus, working for children and sharing with them grounded us in the love of God.
Contributed by Emma Condori-Mamani, a Friend from Bolivia.
I think this is a good example of a simple thing that can have a big benefit. Also, since we take things like school supplies for granted in this country (USA), it seems all the more important to give from our excess to fill the needs of those with a paucity,