ABW eNEWS September, 2023

On the road again. Again.

ABW eNews September 2023

For the second time this year, I’m writing an eNews greeting from Africa. This time I am travelling with a group of 26 supporters who are visiting one or more of Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Many of our group are donors who have not been able to travel with us since before the pandemic. They are getting to see the impact of the investments they have made in schools, clinics, water projects or health programming in recent years. Some are travelling for the first time with us, and some have never been outside Canada before! Their eyes are being opened to the great need in developing countries, and the difference they are able to make.

We will be celebrating with these communities at the grand opening of schools, as well as monitoring the improvements and any difficulties we need to address. To monitor our own progress, please visit our trip blog here.

With deep gratitude,

Eric Rajah

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Project updates

Isokon Primary School

Isokon is a busy school in a remote region near the Maasai Mara game reserve. With more than 800 children in primary and preschool, the school was desperately short of classroom space and toilets.

One couple, Dale and Majella Russell of Red Deer, has stepped forward to support the school so far, but ABW began building classrooms and toilets using contingency funds, because the situation was so desperate. By the end of the year, the school will have 4 new classrooms and 12 doors of new toilets. Get more information about the school here:

Manyatta Primary and Secondary Schools

Two neighbouring schools in the Nakuru region are getting help thanks to Sierra Flooring of Edmonton and Robert and Dawn Clark of Saskatchewan.

Manyatta Secondary, which received renovations to all nine classrooms last year, thanks to an anonymous Ontario donor, is the site of a new shallow well funded by the Clarks. The water will be shared via pipeline with the nearby primary school.

Manyatta Primary had waited more than a year for donor support until Sierra Flooring of Edmonton adopted the project for its fundraising golf tournament this year. Sierra owner Marcel Paquin matched the donations to renovate all seven of the school’s classrooms.

Both of these schools are likely sites for further projects with ABW, as their needs are high.

Manyatta Primary Project

Manyatta Secondary Project

Mwisho wa Shamba Secondary School

Three years ago, ABW built classrooms and toilets for the primary school in this region of Tanzania, and now has returned to assist the secondary school.

With more than 700 students and the existing facilities deteriorating, the school desperately needed help.

Cathy Roozen of Edmonton, who has funded our Tanzania projects for many years, has put another two classrooms and 16 toilets on site to help this high school manage its burgeoning student load.

Out of Afghanistan

Following a tense period of transition, a former student of ABW schools in Afghanistan has successfully arrived in Canada to attend Burman University.

Shabana Rasouly received a student visa from the Canadian government and, with a little help from ABW, began studies in Lacombe in September. After attending a school built by ABW in Afghanistan, Shabana had become a volunteer with ABW, monitoring our schools while she still lived in her home country.

Since the takeover by the Taliban in 2021, western governments have encouraged charities to assist their former employees and volunteers, should they wish to leave Afghanistan. This was an unusual opportunity for ABW; we unfortunately can do little for the many other Afghans who did not work with us.

Progress as of September, 2023

A Better World's big goal is to have 75,000 students enrolled in our schools —with access to clean water, toilets, and healthcare — by 2030. To get there, we have specific annual goals.