H2C Run-for-Reading Fundraiser

This Friday, Aug 24th, Matt Maclean, DH Director, and Tom MacLean, Matt’s Uncle, will join a team to participate in the longest relay race in the United States called  Hood-to-Coast. A team of 12 of will run 200 miles from Mt. Hood in Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. The main reason for committing to this task is to raise money to continue our support of a rural school in Zambia.

Click here to support Matt
Click here to support Tom or read on for more details…

Last year Matt was able to complete the journey and raise $2,800 for this cause.  It was an amazing experience and the donations had a tremendous impact.  In particular, these donations helped fund our project for solar power at the school.    Since that time, the solar project has transformed the school by allowing us to develop an e-reader program creating a digital library for the school using Kindles.  The light generated from the solar power has also allowed the school to create a place for the students to study at night, the teachers to prepare for their classes, and to provide adult literacy classes to the parents.  Moreover, Matt and other volunteers from Dwankhozi Hope recently returned from a trip to the school where we leveraged the solar power to create a computer lab, with donated laptops, and provided computer training to the Dwankhozi teachers.  Imagine, one year ago this community had never before had lights.   Now, they have access to computers, the Internet, and a whole library of books which can be read at night.  It has been an amazing success and would not be possible without your support.

For the upcoming race, we hope to raise enough funds to expand the solar project to the nearby villages.  Many of the students live too far away from the school to come back to school at night to study.  Our hope is to build “Reading Rooms” in each of the villages near the school.  These rooms will have lighting so that children can gather in the evenings and study.  During our last visit, we piloted a reading room in one of the villages.  The reports back have indicated that it has been a great success and children are using it to study for tests and complete homework.  We would like to expand this program to other nearby villages.  Your support in this effort will go a long way towards the goal of every child having an opportunity for a healthy productive life through education.  For those of you new to Dwankhozi, I have included some additional information on the organization below.

We would be so grateful if you would consider supporting their efforts in this race either through thoughts & prayers or in the form of a donation. Thank you again for your past support and your thoughtful consideration of walking (or running!) with our team as they help the Dwankhozi community “break the cycle of poverty and reach their God-given potential.”  The race begins Aug 24th – next stop: making it to the ocean!