Children thank Angelina, Brad
ELMA ROBBERTS
HOLLYWOOD superstar Angelina Jolie's campaign to promote equal access to education has yielded results in the dusty streets and shacks of Swakopmund's DRC settlement.
Jolie donated U$15 000 (about N$111 000) to the DRC School Project and Community Centre when she, Brad Pitt and their two adopted children visited Namibia earlier this year.
On Friday, staff members of the modest, privately run DRC School officially thanked the celebrity couple in their absence, while the young pupils eagerly unpacked the crates of books that were bought with the money.
"Their donation ... helps to ensure that over 30 children will be able to receive an education through this project in the upcoming year," said Ivanna Iafigliola-Kriner, who founded the project along with her husband, Mike.
"All children attending the programme will now have their own English, Reading and Maths textbooks," she said.
"We would also like to thank all of the companies and individuals who have supported us through 2006."
The rest of the money will be spent on teachers' salaries for next year.
Since opening its doors some two years ago, the arrangement of brightly coloured bulk containers that were converted into two classrooms and an office
has brought a measure of hope to the neglected, impoverished community of more than 2,000 residents.
The school now provides education to about 30 children between the ages of six and 12 years, who previously had little hope of formal schooling.
Two qualified teachers were appointed on a full-time basis last year.
A few wooden shacks behind the schoolhouse small businesses such as a barbershop and a sewing centre where entrepreneurs can get income-generating projects off the ground.
Besides the adult literacy programme and health information offered at the community centre, it is a regular meeting place where people can discuss community issues.
http://www.namibian.com.na/2006/November/n...065806E3DF.html
The rest of the 300,000 was promised to the hospitals.