Summer Interns at Classroom for Africa
Each year, during summer school break, Classrooms For Africa employs a few students to work with us. We are pleased to introduce the 2021 students and share what they are contributing to Classrooms for Africa.
Meet Jesika from Victoria, BC! She is studying in the Not-For-Profit Leadership course at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford and is hoping to have a career in the Not-For-Profit field.
At Classrooms for Africa, she helps write applications for grant funds, creates fundraising presentations, working with partner organisations and uses social media as a tool for promoting the work of Classrooms for Africa. She has an interest in communicating with potential donors and tailoring her presentations to suit their needs.
Jesika is impressed by the effectiveness of Classrooms for Africa’s model for building classrooms in the African countries where we work as shown by the number of classrooms completed over the past 12 years and the many successful relationships we have developed with the schools.
She has learned that although the schools are financially challenged, once they have suitable and adequate facilities and trained teachers, children are able to learn effectively. In addition, the schools make a profound difference in their local communities.
She is impressed by the Classrooms for Africa’s method of standing alongside schools by providing funds for basic infrastructure and at the same time encouraging the schools to build their own facilities and to participate in the growth and development of their own communities.
Meet Cami from West Kelowna, BC! She is also studying in the Not-For-Profit Leadership course at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford and is hoping to work with at-risk youth and to own a business.
At Classrooms for Africa, she is helping to update the website and creating a video concerning the late Classrooms for Africa chairman, Ray Sutton. She is also collaborating and helping alongside ACSI Western Canada and other partners with what is needed.
Cami is most interested in working online with the website in the area of web design as she enjoys the creative side. She is impressed that Classrooms for Africa believes in what they are doing. She believes Classrooms for Africa is working in a healthy way both here in Canada and also in Africa.
She has learned that there is a thirst for education in Africa, not only by the students but also by their parents and communities who want to give their children a chance to learn and grown in knowledge.
Cami feels that Classrooms for Africa partners with the school communities in a supportive way, staying in the background and giving the school leaders freedom and encouragement to reach their own goals. The policy is to understand that the communities know what they need and then to support them in achieving these goals.
Meet Alexandra from Bowmanville, Ontario! She too, is studying in the Not-For-Profit Leadership course at Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford and hopes to own a coffee shop business one day.
At Classrooms for Africa, she is helping to write applications for government grants, plans posts for social media and is working on the Ray Sutton Legacy project in Uganda and with local partners.
Alexandra is most interested in writing grant applications. She is impressed that Classrooms for Africa is a well-balanced, organized charity that relies heavily on human relationships to improve conditions in struggling communities.
Working with Classrooms for Africa has taught Alexandra that although education is taken for granted in Canada, in the communities where Classrooms for Africa works, people are dedicated to education as they see it is a way to make the world a better place.
Alexandra feels the way Classrooms for Africa involves and encourages the communities they work with shows the organization is impacting the minds of people and leaving a lasting passion for education.
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Thanks to all three of you for your hard work this summer!