Six Year Old Visits Rwanda, Returns To Lead Change
In March of 2016, six-year-old Sofía Navarro-Macías joined her moms Blanca and Mónika, and their dear family friend, Cynthia Hess on a week-long contributourism trip to Rwanda, East Africa. They donated teaching material and school supplies to Little Angels School in the city of Mbyo. There they also worked to refurbish classroom blackboards with new paint. They also donated teaching materials, school supplies, and a Chromebook laptop computer lab as well as technology expertise at Sonrise School in the city of Musanze. While at the school, they also constructed a library space for the Primary school using donated teaching materials, “Books for Africa” library books, and sweat equity. The students, staff, administrators, and people, as a whole, treated them with kindness, friendship, generosity, and a powerful enthusiasm for learning. It was an eye-opening visit.
Upon the families’ return, they learned that one in three Africans live below the global poverty line. They make up 70 percent of the global poor, and their numbers are rising.1 Despite the overwhelming number of extremely poor people in Africa, the causes of poverty on the continent are no different than the causes of poverty around the world. What are some of the factors?
The top three external factors include, but are not limited to:
- Lack of shelter
- Limited access to clean water resources
- Food insecurity
In October, Sofía learned of the work of the nonprofit agency called “Charity: Water”. For her birthday that month, she asked all family members instead of buying gifts, to donate to her project “Agua Refrescante Para Todos”. She raised $355 and the donation was part of two completed water projects: both helping to fund a piped system tap stand for two communities in Madagascar, implemented by the local partner HELVETAS USA.
In December, the family also participated in serving dinner at the Salinas Warming Shelter run by Community Homeless Solutions. The shelter provides temporary and permanent housing for women, men and families in transition. respite care and seasonal warming shelter. There, Sofía saw families with young children who were living in their own poverty for lack of shelter.
So, as a first-grade student, Sofía decided she wanted to start a “Penny Donation” campaign among her school’s first graders to gather money and purchase Christmas toys that she would then take to kids at the Warming Shelter. She spoke in front of three classes of first graders about the poverty she saw in Rwanda, then in Salinas. She asked students to bring any pennies they could donate for this Christmas toy project and deposit them in a jar she provided each teacher. In the end, together they raised over $400! She purchased toys for each of the children in the Warming Shelter and delivered them with the help of the Community Liaison, Cheryl Camany. After the Community Homeless Solutions organization learned of the project, Ms. Camany presented Sofía with a “Community Service” recognition for her leadership of the project.
