Accomplishments
USACF’s work supplying schools with much-need educational resources is its most impactful program. Together we have shipped sixty-five 40-foot containers of supplies to more than 1,000 schools in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Somaliland, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. Each container is filled with library books, textbooks, school supplies, art supplies, clothing, sneakers, sports equipment, blackboards, toys, and other needed materials. USACF works hard to involve American students in its work. Through school presentations and our Sister School Program, thousands of American students learn about life in a very different part of the world and their African counterparts and are empowered to take action to address the “resource gap” between schools here and schools in rural West Afric. USACF’s “Bridge Project” brings digital libraries to schools, helping the least resourced schools succeed. With the support of American children and friends, USACF is dramatically changing the educational environment and future of more than a million children.
Some of USACF’s accomplishments
- USACF has created or enhanced hundreds of libraries. For the first time in many communities, children can take books home to read.
- Teacher morale in participating schools has dramatically increased. Teacher retention is high. Involvement with USACF generates new pride in local schools and a new sense of hope.
- Many teachers have told us that reading test scores have improved and that more students are qualifying for university admission.
- Children living far from their rural schools can walk to school on cold days because they now have shoes.
- USACF’s “Caring Carpenters” program in Zimbabwe, working with teachers and community volunteers to repair broken school furniture, has repaired over 10,000 units of school furniture. USACF also builds sorely needed teacher wardrobes and paints classroom buildings.
- USACF has supplied dozens of kindergarten classes with educational toys, leading to better attendance and increased enrollment.
- In partnership with the One World Play Project, USACF has shipped more than 17,000 soccer balls to Zimbabwe, Ghana, and South Africa. Regional soccer tournaments are now being played annually in South Africa and Zimbabwe. USACF has shared hundreds of its soccer balls with schools outside the program.
- USACF’s partnership with Super Soccer Stars has brought soccer coaches to Zimbabwe to run 8-day clinics for students and teachers. Each of the 35 teachers participating in the clinic has the opportunity to be certified by ZiFA; the Zimbabwe Football Association. Once certified, the teachers go back to their schools and share what they learned with more than 15,000 children.
- American students give their own story books, toys, clothing, shoes, soccer balls, uniforms and school supplies for shipment to needy schools. Some school drives have yielded more than 100 boxes of donations.
- Whenever possible, USACF works with other NGO’s to help children’s programs. USACF has helped other organizations ship useful materials to Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria. It recently shipped two complete dental stations to Zimbabwe.
