A Helping Hand… Georgia Fenton And School’s A Gift

By James Hutton on August 14, 2012 in People

Georgina Fenton founded local charity School’s A Gift when she returned home from a holiday to Ethiopia in 2010, where she’d visited a particularly desperate primary school in a remote area of the country. Georgina came home determined to help these children by improving their school, but had very little means to do so.

Tell us a about School’s A Gift in a paragraph…
School’s A Gift raises funds for education-based projects in Ethiopia that will assist children to access primary and secondary level education and reduce the number of school drop outs, with an emphasis on providing equal educational opportunities for girls and boys. The current projects of School’s A Gift include the construction of school buildings, the purchase of essential school supplies and furnishings, and plans to provide scholarships to girls to assist them to complete secondary school.

Who are you helping?
We help primary and secondary school children in a community situated in the northern highlands of Ethiopia. This is a community where one in ten children die before they even reach the age of five; about half the children are undernourished and have stunted growth, and as for schooling, less than half the children can attend primary school and even less attend secondary school. Only 20% of those in secondary school are girls.

How long have you been going for?
The process of establishing School’s A Gift started two years and this is when I first started supporting the primary school children. School’s A Gift has just had its official launch and we are cur- rently completing our first project – the building of four extra classrooms at the local secondary school. This means 250 extra kids will be able to continue into secondary school and 250 kids every single year from then on.

What made you decide to start School’s A Gift?
My experience in Ethiopia has made me realise that I have had the great fortune of being born in a country where education is a right and is taken for granted. But with this great fortune comes great respon- sibility so I feel that we can discharge that responsibility by assisting one school and one community and giving children the gift of schooling.

What have been the most difficult challenges you’ve faced with School’s A Gift?
The two most difficult things have been raising money – so trying to get people to realise that these kids deserve the educational opportunities we have despite where they live – and secondly, being located so far away when the community we support has no phone or electricity, while we live in a technologically dependent world!

What’s the best thing about School’s A Gift?
Helping a child go to school when previously this could never have happened is the most wonderful gift you can give them. We know that when a girl in Africa receives an education she earns more and has fewer, healthier children who are more likely to live past the age of five and be educated themselves. We know that education is the key to alleviating poverty. So the fact that we can open that door to even several hundred children to start with is amazing.

Have you got any fundraising events coming up?
We have a team in the City2Surf and would love people to join us. Go to www.city2surf.com.au to register then join our team at www.fundraise. city2surf.com.au/schools_a_gift_9.

Do you get any assistance from the government?
No.

Are you affiliated with any religious organisation?
No.

How can Beast readers get involved?
If you would like to contribute financially, head to our Givenow page, www.givenow.com.au/schoolsagift.
All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. If any Beast readers or businesses feel they can contribute to a fundraising event or would be interested in sponsoring us, please email me at georgina@schoolsagift.org.