East Timor Library-in-a-Box Appeal
East Timor
Make a one off donation to this appeal »
If you want to find a Library-in-a-Box, don’t ask Luzina from Timor Leste (formerly East Timor). Luzina is 9 years old and has barely seen a book - let alone a library! And when you hear her describe her ‘school’, you’ll see why a Library-in-a-Box is needed so urgently. “In our class, the walls are empty. The windows have criss-cross wire on them. It is very hot. When the rain comes, the roof leaks and we must shift the desks. Sometimes it floods.” Children in Timor Leste need your help urgently as this country is the newest nation on earth. Its journey to independence has been painful, and it is children like Luzina who’ve suffered the most. Please donate now to help ChildFund New Zealand give children like Luzina a proper education. Luzina lives with her family in a tiny shack in the capital city of Dili, which was the worst affected area during the years of violence in Timor Leste. Most people in Dili have less than a dollar a day to live on. Half have nowhere decent to live. Many don’t even have safe water. It’s no wonder children can’t get the education they desperately need. Luzina is typical of so many children. She told us: “I would like to read. But we have no books. Even our teacher has no book to read us.” Here at ChildFund we believe no child should ever have to miss out on a proper education. Without education, children have no way of breaking free of poverty. They are condemned to a struggle just to survive. The first step towards a good education is learning to read and write. But how can children learn to read without reading books? Or learn to write without text books? That’s why the Library-in-a-Box is such a critical resource for the children of Timor Leste. It’s such a simple idea ChildFund takes the large lockable metal boxes used for delivering aid, and employs locals to fit them with shelves and wheels. To provide a complete Library-in-a-Box takes 100 reading books and 10 text-books. The cost, including the fit-out, is $1,430. Even $33 can provide a reading book and text book! This is all part of a complete educational programme for the poorest children in Timor Leste, but it can’t happen without your help. Please send your generous donation now. The education you give is a child’s best chance of a better future – where they can leave poverty behind forever.
