We are honoured to have chosen Dekpor School Development Organisation (DSDO) as our primary recipient charity for 2019.
DSDO works in rural Ghana where the residents of Dekpor live well below the poverty level and face a daily struggle to survive. DSDO provides funding for clean water and sanitation projects, improved nutrition, sponsorships for children and educators, as well as education and health care projects. The organization’s proven track record and accountability demonstrate that donations are reaching their maximum impact.
We are pleased to have also selected Eyrie for the Children Foundation (Eyrie) as our secondary recipient charity for 2019. Eyrie provides support to disadvantaged children in Nepal. Our funds from 2019 will go toward the support of two orphanages in Kathmandu. Our commitment to Eyrie will extend into 2020 with a total amount of $10,000 ($5,000 per year).
Please read more about our recipient charities below.
Dekpor School Development Organisation (DSDO)
Daily life in Dekpor is challenging. The vast majority of people are extremely poor subsistence farmers. Many parents are faced with impossible choices. They must choose between trying to adequately feed their children, and providing them with health care, basic essentials, and the goods necessary for an education. These are insurmountable challenges. School fees, supplies, and uniforms must all be paid for in cash, which creates a huge barrier. Many children never get the opportunity to go to school and are destined to a life of back-breaking farming.
Since one of DSDO’s directors lives in Dekpor, the organization works directly with the local residents to best meet their needs and to ensure that all funds are used effectively.
As a volunteer-run organization, the overhead is 1.1% (the only expenses include maintaining the domain status and annual financial statements), which helps ensure that donations are spent directly as allocated. Efficiency and transparency are fundamental goals.
For a small organization, DSDO has made impressive achievements in a short period of time. On the school campus, they have completed extensive renovations to all previously-existing buildings, and have also built a library with a large meeting area, 12 new classrooms, and five rain harvesting systems complete with filtration. They have also supplied the school with furniture, text books, electricity, school supplies, teaching materials, and have made a host of other improvements. At the broader village-level, they have mechanized three boreholes, built three water towers, and run water distribution pipes, built five town toilet facilities, and have invested heavily in the local health clinic.
Items from Ontario are frequently shipped to Ghana, most notably, gently used cell phones and laptops which allow determined students to graduate from high school (both pieces of technology are required to access learning materials since the secondary schools themselves cannot provide access).
Currently there are 65 fully-sponsored students and 150 on the food program. DSDO believes that education gives children hope for a brighter future!
Visit Dekpor School Development Organisation website for more information.
Eyrie for the Children Foundation
Eyrie’s mission is to enable less fortunate children in the developing world to realize their full potential by providing resources for education, medical care and basic needs.
Every year since 2011, it offers 115 scholarships to Moran Memorial School and 30 scholarships to St Xavier School, Sadakbari, which are both in located in eastern Nepal. The combined effect of financial hardship and inbred caste culture makes the girls inferior to their brothers. To promote gender equality, Eyrie reserves 50 percent of all scholarships to female students.
Graduates of Moran Memorial School have already utilized their educations in various ways. They have become police officers, soldiers, office workers and school teachers. Some have found their own way to continue their education into the colleges, Others are working overseas. The surrounding community also benefits from the school which conducts various educational programs for the parents and the villagers. The parents are motivated to take responsibility for the education of their children.
Besides providing scholarships, Eyrie appeals to different organizations in Toronto to provide medicine and food for the poor in Nepal. In 2015, it raised relief fund for the Nepalese earthquake victims. All donations received by Eyrie are used on charity. The directors and members pay all administrative expenses associated with the charity.
Visit Eyrie for the Children Foundation website for more information.