Many children in Tunisia drop out of school at a very young age because of the lack of resources, low income and poor school transportation. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education of Tunisia, 40% of local schools are rural schools. School children aged 6 to 12 years are forced to walk daily on average 1 to 9 miles. Annually, a staggering 70,000 pupils drop out of school due to many factors (e.g., poverty, family issues, long way to travel, difficult geographic conditions, ignorance of school value, non-availability of public transportation, etc.). In 2012 alone, 100,000 pupils dropped out of school across the country mainly in the disadvantaged areas. Ghar Wenkel School (Bizerte) is among many rural schools in Tunisia that did not get the attention it deserved from the government for improvement.
In a joint effort and show of solidarity, TUNESS members and the associationHIPPO DIRUTUS (Facebook:Renouveler Bizerte) worked together to help children in Ghar Wenkel to pursue their dreams and education. Thanks to generous donations from many donors (Tunisians and non-Tunisians) located in many areas USA, Canada, and France among others, TUNESS members reached their objective to raise $5220 covering the costs of all 87 pupils’ school materials. These donations have been used to buy backpacks, school supplies (books, notebooks, pens, slates, etc.), and school uniforms “Apron” for the 2013-2014 academic year.
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HIPPO DIRUTUS members and TUNESS project management team worked around the clock to ensure that school supplies arrived to the children on time for back to school day on September 16, 2013. You can view all the photo album here. To maximize the impact of the initiative and to help more needy families, the uniforms “Apron” were made by local women from disadvantaged areas who received during Mother's Day sewing machines offered by HIPPO DIRUTUS.
Seeing the happiness and joy in the face of children was eventually worth all the efforts. It will be a strong motivation to do even more and help schools and other needy children.
TUNESS and HIPPO DIRUTUS would like to thank all contributors for making such a noble cause a success. However, Ghar Wenkel is only the first step. There are still several Tunisian schools in deplorable conditions and this should only reinforce our commitment to push things forward, to work together, and ultimately to ensure that no child is left behind.
Stay tuned and like us on Facebook or register on our web site (www.tuness.org) so you can stay in touch with our initiatives.
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