Sometimes We Go with Plan B

We announced earlier this month our plan to build a school in Thonglong, a village in northeast India. This week, we communicated with our partners in India, and simply put—we’ve experienced a hitch in the plan.  Our quarterly focus is education, and we still want to complete a project to promote education, so we’ve been in deep discussion about how to proceed.

What we’ve learned in doing long-term development projects over the years is that sometimes unforeseen issues arise that end up taking longer than expected to resolve because of communication challenges.  Our hope is that we can work with the school in Thonglong in the future, but for now, we have to change directions.

Pictured: Madelyn (Erika's daughter), Erika, Leia, and Nancy (Leia's mom)

In March, our founders, Leia Johnson and Erika Wright, took a trip to check on some projects our parent organization, 4HIM, has been working on for over a decade. We visited Kalaveria School in the village of Badoughbe on the outskirts of Lome.  4HIM started Kalaveria School in 2006 with a handful of students.  Early on, many families in the hamlets of Badoughbe were unconvinced of the necessity of school, as they needed their children to work the farmland.  When we visited this year, we were greeted by a throng of children, a small percentage of over 300 students who now attend the school.

Onlookers in a field of cassava

A couple of young beauties

The girl in red

A few of the kiddos from Badoughbe

Leia's son, Ben, with some new friends

After first helping the community dig two water wells, 4HIM introduced a poultry project in 2012.  The proceeds from egg sales will support the long-term costs of running the school including supplies and teacher salaries.  During the trip in March, our team helped install a drip irrigation system for a community garden, which will also benefit the school and the families of Badoughbe.

Our chicks!

Planning the irrigation system with A LOT of helpers

As you can see, this multifaceted project has already seen much success, and our ultimate goal is to have the school running sustainably within the next two years. There is still a tremendous opportunity for growth at the school if they can complete an addition to the existing buildings.  With more students coming to school steadily, they are always in need of new space—a good problem to have.

The bamboo addition currently being used

Ready for school

Lining up for the school day

We asked the teachers to complete a list of needs, and the list included things like more desks, some locking cabinets to store their supplies, and of course—footballs.

A few of the teachers at Kalaveria School

So, this quarter, all proceeds raised at our Love Clubs will benefit the Kalaveria School in Badoughbe, Togo.  We are still going to raise the original amount of $10,000 which will cover an addition to the building as well as some of the items on the teacher wishlist.

We couldn’t be more excited to continue our partnership with Kalaveria School.  If you have any questions or concerns, we’re happy to address them at somebodysmama@outlook.com.  We thank you for your support and also for your patience in navigating this process.

NOW LET’S GO BUILD A SCHOOL!