Kal-Haven Hike-Athon to raise money for Zambian scholarships

In Zambia, it costs just $1 a day to attend secondary school, and $5 can help a student attend school for a week. In comparison to many of the educational costs for people in the United States, this may seem like a meager cost, but to many in Zambia, this can be completely insurmountable.

The upcoming Kal-Haven Hike-Athon is a 34 mile hike on the Kal-Haven trail, with participants being asked to pledge a donation-per-mile, with all the donations going towards funding school scholarships for children in Zambia.

“There are youth in a third-world country who are crying for education, and no one is answering their cries to support them” said Osman Koroma, who gained his own education from a series of refugee camps in Sierra Leone and Guinea.

“I had a firsthand experience with a lack of education. I was born in a war zone and was a refugee for half of my life. I was crying for education, and yet, didn’t have the opportunity to see the gifts that I have in me. When I was blessed with a political asylum and moved to the U.S. at the age of 15, after testing, I found out that my education skills were at a second grade level at the age of 15. At the age of 15, I couldn’t attend second grade, so I was moved to the high-school. Within five years, I had to complete 10 years’-worth of education,” Koroma said.

Abby Jo Tongue, who volunteered for seven months as a teacher with Village Schools International schools last year, hopes that the funds raised from this hike will help to bridge the gap between the ability for families to gain enough funding to afford school fees, and connect that with the students desire to gain an education.

“Volunteering as a teacher in a village school last January through July was an incredible and eye-opening experience,” Tongue said in an email interview. “I was moved by the dedication of my students, some of whom walked several miles every morning and evening to and from school without complaining, even in pouring rain. They would wake before the sun to arrive at school on time, soaked and ready to learn. And yet, they were thankful to be there.”

Village Schools International does not pay any staff members in America, instead, everyone who works in the United States “works” as a stateside volunteer, and all of their donations go directly to their missions of building schools and providing school scholarships for their students. The money raised by the Hike-Athon will not cover the full cost of a student’s tuition, however, when the full cost of education is impossible for a student to pay, Village Schools International meets the rest of the cost, to include all students that desire an education but may not be in the socioeconomic position to afford it.  This makes it possible for students who otherwise could not afford the full cost of high-school tuition.

Western Michigan University students can get involved with the Kal-Haven Hike-Athon by donating a specific amount per mile. Even $1 per mile, would total to $34 dollars, allows a student in Zambia to receive two full months of schooling.

To get involved, email your per-mile pledge to Abby Tongue at abbytongue17@gmail.com, including your total per-mile pledge total in the email body. Write a check out to Village Schools International with Abby Tongue Zambian Scholarships in the memo and mail the check to Village Schools International, Box 1929, Tomball, TX 77377.

“I was moved by the dedication of my students, some of whom walked several miles every morning and evening to and from school without complaining, even in pouring rain,” Tounge said. “They would wake before the sun to arrive at school on time, soaked and ready to learn. And yet, they were thankful to be there.”