Education for All
Education for All (EFA) is a charity that has been established to help provide the opportunity of a secondary school education for girls from rural Moroccan communities. As members of the Belmont staff have been working with an education professional in England who has close links to the project, Miss Ehrhardt and Miss Kay were invited to travel to Morocco on 2nd December for three days to learn about this work first hand, alongside five others educators from across the UK.
Miss Ehrhardt and Miss Kay had the opportunity to visit the boarding houses in Asni where, young girls from rural villages around Marrakesh stay throughout the week to be able to attend nearby schools. Very few girls from the rural communities of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco get the opportunity of continuing their education beyond primary school. Secondary schools, mostly several kilometres away in larger towns, are not accessible to them for two main reasons; their parents cannot afford to pay for lodgings near schools and their parents do not have the confidence in existing facilities near schools to entrust their daughters to be away from home.
It was through visiting the boarding houses and meeting some of the girls EFA has sponsored. that Miss Ehrhardt and Miss Kay became passionate about becoming involved with the organisation and bringing their new knowledge about how to help girls receive an education back to Belmont.
A very enthusiastic staff and student population back at Belmont listened intently as the teachers told them about their trip and became passionate and enthusiastic themselves. We are currently brainstorming ideas about how to raise enough money, £600, throughout this academic year to sponsor one more girl to receive an education in Asni, Morocco. The children have lots of ideas already.
Last week the Belmont choir sang beautifully to the lucky customers of Sainsbury’s in Chiswick and residents at Homecross House, collecting £118.o5 for the charity. This was followed with a small group singing carols and seasonal songs locally outside the school day and raising £35.37. A brilliant start to our fundraising efforts.
Please visit www.efamorocco.org to learn more about this fantastic organisation where you can sign up to receive newsletters by email to keep up to date with EFA.
