learning center.

if you've been reading lately, you know that at the end of the school year - after a lot of thought and prayer - quit my job at a private school's after-school english program and am jumping head first into my own project.

i'm starting slow - kind of - sharing space with a very low-income private school* to begin what i have the dream of becoming a fullblown community learning center. we'll start this september offering extra-curricular english classes at a very low cost and hopefully by midterms in december be offering tutoring and a homework center.

we did a lot of publicity before i left to come to philly, but i'll have to work hard in august to get everything running smoothly, but i am sure it's going to be worth it.

do i want my own "school"? no. why? because i believe in public education. but i'm not naive either, and i know that public education - everywhere, not just the third world - is in need of some help. my vision is to work in collaboration with the public school and their students to help where they need it. and of course where i'm able and knowledgable (there's nothing worse than an american who thinks they know third-worlders need but really aren't able to offer anything more substantial than what is already offered)

that being said. i need some help.
first and foremost, this little project needs prayer. if this is going to work, i can't do it alone and i know that prayer works.

beyond that, we need some basic school supplies - chalk, whiteboard markers, erasers, flashcards.

one of our joint "projects" with the school is to (free) raffle some school bags full of supplies to kids enrolled in our programs as a way to help offset their beginning of the school costs. we're also going to sell tickets that will benefit the scholarship program (need AND merit based).

here's the plea. i'm looking for some bookbags. preferably new, but gently used is okay too. i need three more. if you're interested in helping with this (or even offering a scholarship for a kid to study english for the year - just $60 USD for the school year) leave me a comment of email me and let me know. i will greatly appreciate it and the families that win will also appreciate it.

thanks!