The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2022 - Magazine - Page 38
BAGS OF EDUCATION
Offering a solution to marginalised children in Eastern Europe by accessing a school education.
Established in 1981, Door of Hope is a
charity working with a variety of nationals
on a range of education and social care
projects in Eastern Europe. Our aim and
objective is to help lift people out of poverty
and exploitation and unlock the potential
within these marginalised communities,
particularly amongst the most
disadvantaged children.
Many of the children Door of Hope work
with come from dysfunctional homes with
parents suffering from low or no literacy,
existing in poor housing and struggling
with poverty.
As we all know education is fundamental
to a child’s future, it also plays a key role in
preventing more sinister situations. Based
on official data, human trafficking can
occur due to a lack of family and child
education. If a child is in school and
obtaining an education then they and their
families are less likely to be lured down the
path of ‘promised jobs’ abroad which rarely
materialise in the way they imagined.
Working in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and
Moldova within various communities, we
see that many children who come from
marginalised backgrounds don’t possess
anything in the way of school materials.
Their parents are often illiterate and have
very little financially.
Before a child starts a new term, the school
presents the family with a list of school
materials to purchase for their child.
To many families this is just not possible
with a decision being made between food
on the table or buying school materials for
their child. A headteacher in Moldova told
us “We get little in the way of funding and
unfortunately have little in the way of
materials to offer the children” This means
the teachers focus their attention on
children who do possess materials and
marginalised children either don’t attend
school or drop out early not reaching year 8.
BAGS OF EDUCATION
In 2017 Door of Hope developed ‘Bags of
Education’ with the idea of individuals and
schools in the UK, filling a string pulled bag
with selected stationery items and then
sending them to children and schools in
Eastern Europe. The first project manager
we approached with the idea was thrilled
when we explained about the project,
desperate as he was to help the children in
his community. He asked for just 30 filled
bags at the time but Door of Hope was able
to send 108 Bags of Education out to him
and the project has continued to grow ever
since.
One of the first families to receive one of
these bags was a family of 6 in the Ukraine
who were living in a rented home, with no
electricity or running water and no beds.
The two eldest children Zina (12yrs) and
Taletha (14 yrs) had only just received their
birth certificates (very normal in poorer
communities) and finally being granted a
place at the local school. It the first school
they had ever attended and they were able
to arrive with the school materials necessary
to do their very best, thanks to being given
a Bag of Education each.
Anther recipient was Amina aged 7 who
lived with her Grandmother and
Grandfather because her mother had died
and her father was in prison. Amina had a
brother and sister and their Grandmother
found it hard to dress and feed them on
such little money. Buying school materials
was out of the question. Amina’s family
was overwhelmed to receive her ‘Bags of
Education’ bag and she has shown herself
to be a really bright child who is flourishing
at school.
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
Bags of Education is a great opportunity to
encourage children to focus on the needs
or others and to raise awareness that items
that are found in school
everyday can be scarce resources in other
parts of the world.
1. Register to take part in Bags of
Education. The £5 registration fee
covers sending the empty Bag of
Education to you, contents list and FREE
postage for when you have filled the bag
and send it back. NB If you are doing a
bag in a class some people could bring in
some money to go towards the
registration fee instead of an item.
2. When you receive the bag, look at
the contents list and share out the list
amongst your class. These possible
contents include Rulers, Biro Pens,
Colouring Pencils, Maths Books,
Exercise Books, Glue, Slim Folders etc,
We also ask you to include the much
needed; water bottle. Families are very
poor and these items are equally as
valuable as some of the stationery.
3. Collect together the items, fill the bag,
tick off the contents list. Some schools
have added a photo of their class and put
it in their bag with a message of support.
Then take the bag to a Drop Off Point.
If you have a large number then please
contact us directly.
Our aim is to send as many filled draw string
bags to identified communities during the
summer and winter term time.
There are various ways that your school can
take part to raise money for the
registration fee of £5 see our link for ideas:
https://doorofhope.co.uk/resources/
You can also download our Teachers Guide
which will help guide you through the
process.
To register with ‘Bags of Education simply go
to: https://doorofhope.co.uk/
registration/ and we will send out your
quantity of bags along with your contents
list. When the students have filled the bags
you send them back to us here at
Door of Hope FREE of charge.
Please contact us info@doorofhope.co.uk
or 01903 529333 for further information.