We are eleven students currently studying abroad in Pretoria, South Africa as part of Fordham University’s Ubuntu community-engaged learning program.
The Ubuntu program takes its name from the South African humanist philosophy that holds as its central tenet that a person is a person through other persons. In other words, you are who you are because of your interaction with the community around you; if the community thrives then you will thrive. We strive to embody this idea through our community work in townships surrounding Pretoria including Erasmus, Soshanguve, Mamelodi, and Westford. We spend time learning the needs of the community before beginning projects that can be sustained past the five months we have in South Africa.
While we aim to create a meaningful impact with as little supplies as possible, this is not always feasible. Donations of any size will go a long way as we are undertaking projects of many different sizes:
- At Westford Early Childhood Development (ECD), we are updating their playground and bathroom to make sure the children have adequate facilities to learn.
- At Funanani Primary School in Mamelodi, we are renovating the library and integrating a literacy program.
- At Erasmus ECD, we are striving to provide more resources for the teachers so they can better assist their students.
- At SAVF aftercare in Soshanguve, we are starting a garden which we will use to teach the students life skills.
If you would like to read about our time in South Africa and to see more pictures, check out our blog at www.ubuntu2018.weebly.com.
We flew past our goal yet again! Thank you so much for the continued support.
We are hoping you will help us reach our new target of $6,000. At one of the sites in Westford, the costs for installing a flush toilet are much more than we were initially quoted so we are hoping with this last push we can fully fund it!
Thank you!
2971 days ago by Fordham UniversityWithin 24 hours of updating the campaign goal to $3,000, we already surpassed this mark! We are so grateful for your support.
We are raising our goal to $5,000 so that we can take on bigger projects.
Thank you for your generous contributions!
2978 days ago by Fordham UniversityThank you so much to everyone who has contributed to our campaign!
Because of the outpouring of support, we have decided to increase our goal to $3,000. With this target, we can now set out to take on even bigger projects at our community sites. We can fix both the playground and bathroom at the Westford Early Childhood Development Center rather than having to choose between the two. Additionally, we can set out to take the 5 and 6-year-olds at the Erasmus ECD on a field trip to the Pretoria Zoo.
We are so grateful for all the support so far and excited to make an even bigger difference!
2979 days ago by Fordham UniversityDonors
View All Donors
| Affiliation | Donors | $ Raised |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 11 | $600 |
| 2004 | 2 | $50 |
| 2017 | 2 | $50 |
| 2016 | 1 | $35 |
| 2020 | 1 | $25 |
| 2015 | 1 | $20 |
