Children deserve the opportunity for education, but they suffer when they don’t have adequate tools for learning—basic resources that many Americans take for granted—such as paper.
In rural Zimbabwe, two-thirds or 65 percent of the children have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS. Remaining caregivers generally are too poor to provide children with composition books required by the school system. When a child does not have a notebook, he or she sits on the floor and writes lessons in the dust. Some students do not have notebooks at all; but of those who do, they may have only one for all subjects.
For this reason, OneLife Matters has adopted the cause of providing composition notebooks to students in Zimbabwe. The project began in 2008, with one participating school moving from 40th to eighth place in the district in exam performance.
Quinn and Martha Morgan, International Mission Board missionaries in Zimbabwe, have served at the Baptist Publishing House in Bulawayo for more than 30 years. They helped coordinate a food project for widows, who in turn wanted to express their appreciation for the food they received. The women began cleaning the publishing house on Saturdays, but they soon moved into helping with a new project—assembling five variations of composition notebooks with a story and Bible lesson printed on the inside covers.
“It’s not just a book going out to kids to fill out their math or their geography,” Quinn said. “It has God’s Word on there, and we hope that will change their lives.”
The notebooks serve a dual purpose. The covers tell a cultural story that teaches the message of salvation and True Love Waits. These notebooks provide a gateway for volunteers to be able to share the gospel, their own testimonies and conduct True Love Waits rallies with more than 200 schools where 300,000 notebooks are being distributed with 200,000 students and teachers being reached.
The Morgans saw a great need at Matshetshe Primary School and chose it to be a recipient of the exercise books. “When we first went there, the teachers were discouraged, and rightfully so,” Martha said. “You can see their spirits lift and their excitement now; there’s a definite change in attitude in the villages, staff and the students in the school.”
How You Can Help
One notebook costs 50 cents, but $76,000 is needed to fund the project. If total donations exceed the financial needs of this project, funds may be dispersed for similar projects in other areas around the world. Visit OneLifeMatters.org to donate.
Pray for the project and workers that they may be able to provide notebooks for all the orphaned students impacted by HIV/AIDS.
