The Hudson Valley chapter of The Links, a national service organization of African American women, has made a commitment to adopt an impoverished school in South Africa reports The Journal News.
Under the banner of their “Education Across Miles” initiative, the organization donated backpacks, books and other needed school items to over 300 students at the Putellos Primary School.
According to the organization’s website, the initiative is a part of a larger program focused on a “commitment to build and refurbish schools in Africa to make a direct difference in the lives of African families.”
The project to aid the South African school has three phases: Seats of Learning, Fountains of Hope, and Field of Dreams. Two of them have already been put into effect and the third, Field of Dreams, is in progress.
Barbara Hibbert, Hudson Valley chapter Vice President, told The Journal News that the first part of their initiative, Seats of Learning, was a success. She said due to community donations, they were able to give 110 seats—student work spaces– to the school.
Earlier this year, 10 sinks and 10 water fountains were installed at the school through the Fountains of Hope phase. This alleviated the need for students to have to carry water pails into the school building from a spigot outside.
The third phase will work to create a sports field near the school where children can play and the surrounding community can create a marketplace to sell and trade goods, chapter president Cynthia Rountree told The Journal News.
Rountree said that the organization is looking for new areas of service and that she is looking at things “with a panoramic view.”
The Links was established in 1946 and is one of the nation’s oldest volunteer and service organizations of African-American women.