"A Self-help Assistance Program"
" Development that Works."
Community leaders meet to discuss development in their area schools.
Parents, community leaders, teachers, and school heads often meet to address
problems.
ASAP's GOAL
ASAP is a small charitable organization with a goal to assist
and build the capacity of communities in developing countries in their efforts
to solve their own problems.
ASAP's APPROACH
If given access and ownership of the needed resources,
people within the community are the only ones in a position to work together to
develop and improve their community, in a sustainable manner. ASAP works
on the ground with rural communities that take the initiative to organize and
mobilize their limited resources, in an effort to improve their quality of
life.
"ASAP's
Training and Resource Center"
School
desk kits are produced here for distribution to rural schools where local
carpenters, trained in ASAP’s COTRA program, assemble them.
Orphan Scholarship Fund
One in three children in
Zimbabwe will be without parents by the year 2010! Some estimate the figure
will be over 50%! The impact of the AIDS
crisis in Zimbabwe is increasingly being felt in every aspect of life and the
number of orphans is rising steadily. Funerals have become a regular part
of daily life.
The children are
the innocent victims of this crisis, left in the world alone and emotionally
isolated. The opportunity to attend school provides so much more than
education; it provides a stable environment in a world that has left them
abandoned and insecure.
Extended families
are the norm in Zimbabwe, as in most of Africa. They make unbelievable
sacrifices to give hope to these troubled children. As the burden of caring for
orphans, in addition to their own children, becomes increasingly unbearable,
even the small cost of a rural education is no longer affordable.
ASAP is assisting OVER 5000
mostly orphaned children with their school fees. This gives them an opportunity
to maintain a sense of belonging, as well as acquiring an education along with
their friends.
Improvement of Education
Schools are
often the center of the community in the remote rural areas where ASAP works. A
typical school building is made of locally made bricks and does not usually
have piped water, telephones or electricity. Schools are located miles apart on dust roads,
many of which are impassable during rainy season. Schools must provide teachers
with housing at the school in order to entice them to work in these isolated
conditions.
Due to
overcrowded and inadequate facilities, it is common to see teachers conducting
classes outside under trees. To maximize the number of students one school can
facilitate, "hot seating" is a common practice, whereby half of the
children are taught in the morning and the other half attend classes in the
afternoon. Primary schools consist of grades 1 through 7. Less that 50% of
primary children continue on to secondary schools, which consist of
"O" level (Form I-IV) and "A" level (Form V & VI).
ASAP, in partnership with Solon
Foundation, works to improve the quality of rural education. Rural
communities are selected that have demonstrated the motivation to work together
to improve their own area. The community is tasked with organizing a governing
body, and this democratically elected committee prioritizes the needs of the
entire community. It is by working closely within this structure that ASAP begins
to offer assistance with development. Projects
include assisting rural communities to construct classrooms and housing for
teachers, as well as programs to improve the quality of education, with an
emphasis on relevant vocational skills.
Construction - Provision of adequate classrooms immeasurably
improves the quality of education that these children receive. The shortage of
housing for teachers is another major problem because qualified teachers will
often not accept positions in rural schools where housing is not available, as
previously mentioned.
School
communities are actively involved in all ASAP funded construction projects,
providing the sand, stone, water, and locally made bricks to the construction
site, as well as selecting a local contractor. ASAP provides the more
costly items, such as steel window and doorframes, cement, lumber, and roofing
materials. Students studying "Building" are encouraged to participate
at each stage of the construction process in order to acquire practical
experience along with the classroom theory.
A four-classroom block constructed at Tzvito Primary School
in Northern Zimbabwe.
Inside the classroom- To help teachers improve teaching and
learning, educational equipment such as manual typewriters and duplicating
machines, and portable chalkboards have been provided in some areas.The lack of
textbooks and teaching resources is a major problem in all rural areas and
communities are challenged to come up with alternative teaching aids to fill
this need.
Vocational skills training- ASAP provides the tools
and technical assistance to introduce vocational skills training such as
carpentry, masonry, sewing, and agriculture in primary schools. The need for
this is desperate as less than 50% of students continue their education beyond
primary level. These basic life skills are relevant because they will help them
survive and possibly even open the door to future employment.
Grade 3 being taught
under the trees in rural Zimbabwe due to lack of classrooms. A portable
chalkboard is a valuable teaching aid in this setting.
Bridge the Gap Project
The
world over, many people agree that Math is difficult but an important subject.
In rural Zimbabwe, where school is taught in a second language (English),
many children fail to grasp the basic Math concepts. Even students that perform
well in primary school Math, commonly fail to comprehend the subject in
secondary school. There is a large gap of knowledge in mathematics between what
students aresupposed to knowas they begin Form 1 (high school), and what
theyactually knowwhen leaving primary school. In order to address
thisproblemASAP, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education,
has established a 3-year "Bridge the Gap" pilot project in the Chibuwe
area of Zimbabwe. Teacher's strong in math skills have been identified within
the community to work as training coordinators. Math experts conduct
training workshops for these coordinators and they then gather with their
colleagues to share resources and methodologies.
Rural Savings Club Program
In
April 2002, ASAP launched a rural micro finance project called Rural Savings Club
Program(RSCP). This is a replication of a very successful CARE, International
program in Zimbabwe.
Groups
of women in the Nyanga North area of Zimbabwe are being trained to mobilize
their own resources in a way that enables them to build their resources
through internal lending. This program involves thorough training of over 3000
women in the operation of a savings club with regular follow-up by ASAP’s field
officers. The objective is to enable the women to be more self-reliant and
improve access to money for their income generating projects.
The response from the women in these communities has been outstanding and both field officers, Joseph Miti and Causemore Samanga, are working hard to keep up with the demand for training.
Support for Entrepreneurs
ASAP, in partnership
with"Tools for Self Reliance", helps to empower rural artisans by
providing refurbished hand tools and sewing machines, often accompanied by basic
business training. TFSR is a U.K. based charity that reconditions donated hand
tools in Britain, and donates them to developing nations. Since 1997 in
Zimbabwe, entrepreneurs have benefited from over 15,000 of these high quality
reconditioned tools, through ASAP. As tools are simply not affordable for many rural artisans,
just a few hand tools and improved business skills can have a major impact on
their ability to successfully eke out a living.
Micro-enterprise training and provision of school furniture
ASAP's Carpentry
Outreach Training Program (COTRA) provides rural artisans with upgraded
woodworking skills, basic small business training, and a set of carpentry hand
tools. During each intensive month-long workshop, self-employed carpenters are
given upgrade skills training while being taught to build durable wooden school
desks, tables, chairs, doors, and roof trusses.
Besides improving
their carpentry and business skills, this training enables them to earn money
buildingASAP’sdurable and cost effective furniture at their local
schools.To date,ASAP- trained rural artisans have built desks to seat over
13,000 students in Zimbabwe.
Rural carpenters learning to build durable wood desks at anASAPtraining workshop
in the Chibuwe Area of Zimbabwe.
Since 1995 ASAP has
assisted Zimbabwean communities to provide:
Your small donation can make a life-changing
difference.
$25 - annual school fees for 30 primary school
children
$100 - durable desks and seats for 10 students
$400 - portable chalkboards for 10 schools
$3,000 – duplex housing for 2 families at a rural
school
$10,000 - a brand new 4-classroom building
"DEVELOPMENT THAT WORKS"
Please send your generous donation to
ASAP's
office in Georgia:
P.O.Box 2275,
Peachtree City, Georgia 30269 USA.
ASAP would like to thank all contributors who
have made our work possible. Every donation, of any size, makes a difference
and is greatly appreciated.
Back to the Top
We would like to hear from you.
E-mail:asap@syscom.co.zw
or tlasap@lycos.com
ASAP
P.O. Box 1912, 2 End Ave., Mutare, Zimbabwe
ASAP
P.O. Box 2275, Peachtree City, Georgia 30269 USA
ASAP's FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ASAP is a small but
effective501(c)(3) U.S. non-profit charitable organization working in Zimbabwe.
ASAP is also a PVO (Private Voluntary Organization) registered with USAID.
ASAP's fiscal year ends Sept 30 and combined administrative and fundraising
expenses for 2000/2001 were less than 5% of the total annual budget.
Audited financial
statement and IRS
Web
Page Last Revised: 6 Feb 2003
