Thanks to volunteers and teachers, we are committed to offering children in our missions help after school to complete their homework and review the lessons together.
In the countries where we operate, schooling for children and young people is often free, but of very low quality due to overcrowded classrooms and the poor preparation of teachers. The idea of offering extracurricular support arises from the need to give children a chance to review what was taught at school and to assist them in their learning, as well as to recover the time lost due to the pandemic.
Due to COVID-19, schools in India were closed for almost two years, during which many children lost their enthusiasm and curiosity for learning and education. After speaking with Father Samy, our local representative, we identified the need to reconnect children with the concept of school as a place of culture and community. For this reason, AGAPE decided to cover the salaries of two teachers to help children in Tamil Nadu, a southeastern region of India, recover the lost time and catch up with the school curriculum.
A hundred children, divided by age, were welcomed in a very spacious local facility. A TV was purchased to use as a screen/blackboard with the help of generous donors. Lessons began for our Dalit children, the “untouchables” in India, one of the poorest social classes.
Since 2020, with the worsening difficulties faced by children at school due to the pandemic, we began supporting the Machaka Association, with whom we already had a collaboration, in after-school activities and educational support. For most of 2020 and a good part of 2021, schools were not open continuously, which caused significant learning challenges for children and young people in the Bairro of Mafalala, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Maputo.
Thanks to the volunteers of the Civic Service, we created a packed program of activities. Every day at the Machaka Association’s headquarters, there is someone available to welcome the children and assist them with their homework or clarify concepts that are not clear. From there, we expanded this activity to the A.V.I.M.A.S. headquarters in the Bairro of Choupal, the Hlayiseka Association in the Bairro of Alto Maé, and the Centro Infantil Esperança de Catembe, where two volunteers reside permanently every year.
The project aims to stimulate curiosity and the desire to learn in children and young people, qualities they often lose due to an educational system with very few resources that fails to meet their needs. Thanks to the volunteers and teachers, they feel more supported and are able to absorb knowledge at their own pace.
ACCD Machaka
A.V.I.M.A.S.
Centro Infantil Esperança de Catembe
Escola Primaria Unidade 22
Escola Primaria Unidade 23
Hlayiseka
