How Your Donations were used in 2021
How Your Giving Helps
Despite weathering a second year of the pandemic, and with limited face-to-face fundraising, we continued to receive strong support for our work from our donor base. 2021 donations vastly exceeded our expectations! Because of this, the Africa Exchange Project provided $53,060 in direct aid in 2021. Below are a few highlights:
Science Center.We were able to dramatically increase our support for the new science center from a budgeted amount of $19,200 to $28,200! These additional funds allowed us to accelerate finishing the ceiling and cement work.
Scholarships for Girls: The scholarship program has shown real growth over the past few years. . In 2022, we will be sponsoring 3 additional girls – for a total of 10 students. To ensure that these young ladies from disadvantaged backgrounds can succeed, we are also funding health insurance and academic tutoring.
Textbooks: For the third year in a row, we provided $7,000 to buy additional textbooks for the students of the secondary school. At an average cost of $5/book, this represents an increase of 1,400 books per year … getting us closer to our goal of 1 book per child. Dramatic increases in national exam scores over the past few years demonstrate how impactful access to books can be!
Elder Care: To ensure the most vulnerable in the village were cared for, we funded $2,400 in direct food aid. We were able to provide rice, beans, flour and other essentials on several occasions to 100 needy villagers. Students from the secondary school helped distribute this aid learning valuable, real-life lessons about giving back to the community.