THE BENEFITS OF ‘IN COUNTRY’
Whether it be expensive custom fees, border controls or areas too remote to reach, there are some countries where delivering SchoolBags from the UK is out of the question. The ‘in-country’ distribution method has allowed us to reach thousands more children who otherwise wouldn’t receive a SchoolBag to help them learn.
LOCAL
ECONOMY
Our donor’s money is pumped back into the local economy, generating jobs and facilitating economic development in country.
LOW-COST
This method eliminates paying expensive shipping costs and custom fees. This means that more SchoolBags can be funded using our donor’s money
SUSTAINABILITY
Manufacturing SchoolBags in Country eliminates long-distance travel, resulting in lower carbon emissions. it’s also a much quicker process!
BESPOKE
The SchoolBags contents can be modified to account for environmental, cultural and curricular specifications of each country.
EMPOWERMENT
Our partners gain huge praise and thanks within their own community helping lift their profile and status amongst their own people
BESPOKE PER PROJECT
Many of our In Country projects have alternative items added to the contents of the SchoolBag to make them culturally specific or to replace items that are already provided for.
SchoolBags put together in Kenya for school children at Msambweni Primary School include a solar torch instead of eating utensils as the schools keep these in the classroom, The children walk to school in the dark through the bush land so the torch is an invaluable content – being solar powered, it is sustainable, does not require electiricty or expensive batteries and eradicates the need for kerosene lamps.
CASE STUDIES
NEPAL, HELP
Since July 2012, School in a Bag have been working with the NGO Helambu Education Livelihood Project (HELP) to provide SchoolBags for children living in the Helambu region, 60 kms north east of Kathmandu, Nepal. HELP was set up and run by Jimmy Lama, himself a school boy in Helambu some 25 years ago.
Since the partnership began, over 17,000 SchoolBags have been distributed to children in over 200 schools.
Following the 2015 earthquakes, SIAB co-funded the rebuild of three schools.
Watch the short film about the impact SchoolBags have on the children in the schools supported by HELP
INDIA, MERCY AND GRACE
Mercy and Grace is a family run charitable trust registered as a nonprofit organisation based in Andhra Pradesh who run social, spiritual, educational and cultural projects to lift the poor and needy from below the poverty line. The charity was set up by Madhava Rao and Nirmala Kumari in 2000 when Madhava used the funds he had saved each month as a bank manager for 27 years to start serving his community. Nirmala provided the land to build the Mercy and Grace orphanage and the projects are co-run by their son Rajesh Kumar.
Mercy and Grace run a very slick organisation utilising many volunteers during their SchoolBag distributions.
Watch the children lined up with their new SchoolBags at the Mercy and Grace orphanage
TANZANIA, IRUDI
Since January 2015, School in a Bag have been working with the Iringa Rural Development Initiative (IRUDI) in Iringa, some 400 kms south west of Dar es Salaam, Working closely with volunteers from all over the world, the small IRUDI team undertake projects such as supplying clean water, building schools and providing education to villages that would other wise be almost isolated.
Following the first project, Willhard Mbogela (IRUDI President) declared there is a need for 30,000 SchoolBags in and around Iringa! The SchoolBags are given to the Most Vulnerable Children (MCV) in each school.
Watch the short film about the SchoolBags funded by corporate partners Blake Envelopes that were put together and distributed by IRUDI
SRI LANKA, YALA FUND
In 2010, School in a Bag were introduced to Yala fund, a small charity operating in South East Sri Lanka that was set up in wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. A consignment of 160 UK Packed SchoolBags were shipped to Colombo but following the monitor and evaluation process it was determined that putting SchoolBags together ‘In Country’ would be more cost effective and a better economic solution within the country.
The SchoolBags have supported poor communities, helped flood victims who lost their possessions following a prolific monsoon season and benefited children in orphanages set up in wake of the 2004 Tsunami.
Watch the short clip with children in Yala proudly showing off the umbrellas which are provided as an additional content to the SchoolBags
