An Urgent Appeal for SOPUDEP School in Haiti

October 31, 2009

An Urgent Appeal for SOPUDEP School in Haiti

To those who believe that education is not a privilege, but rather a right for all, SOPUDEP Public School in Pétion-Ville Haiti needs your attention.

We are writing on behalf of the hardworking and dedicated Haitian educators of SOPUDEP School who wish to empower the most vulnerable children in their community. The children of SOPUDEP cannot afford to go to school is Haiti's highly privatized education system. Without SOPUDEP School in their community, these children would never learn to read or have access to a well-rounded education.

The Sawatzky Family Foundation is a registered Canadian charity created in 2008 with the sole purpose of providing financial support for SOPUDEP and raising awareness about this wonderful local social program.

The Sawatzky Family has personally paid the teachers’ salaries ($26,000 (US) for 47 staff) and the majority of the food program that feeds over 650 students five days a week for close to two years.

We have run short on our own resources and are urgently calling for immediate support. We are currently faced with the terrible possibility of cutting teacher salaries. This would force many of them to find other work just to get by, thereby reducing SOPUDEP's effectiveness. Turning away students would subsequently become a very real possibility.

We need a minimum of $6000 (US) to get through the next three months. We are currently preparing a longer-term financial appeal which will allow us to avoid such shortfalls in the future.

SOPUDEP School is a critical social program in Haiti, one that is integral to the future of its people. It is a unique program serving as an example of what free public education should look like in Haiti, and it is one that needs our care and support!

For information on how you can help now, see below.
Thank you!

Ryan Sawatzky, President

“PayPal” or “Canada Helps” Internet Payments
can be made through:

http://www.sopudep.org/donate
(at the bottom of the page)

Cheques and Money Orders can be sent to:

The Sawatzky Family Foundation
PO Box 626, Station Main
Orillia, Ontario, Canada
L3V 6K5

If you wish to contact us for more info or comments:

sawatzkyfamilyfoundation@gmail.com
phone: (705) 345-5593

www.sopudep.org