To begin, we would like to send our thoughts and prayers to everyone in our community who has suffered or is suffering due to COVID-19. This is truly an unprecedented time. Keeping hope alive is something we all need to do right now.
When COVID-19 became a global pandemic, Classroom of Hope needed to act swiftly to ensure the health and safety of our team, board and local NGO partners. We also needed a strategy to mitigate our operational risk, so we launched our Principals campaign to reach out to long term major donors who would assist us in building a reserve to cover operations for one year. The response we received was unbelievable and helped to remove a great deal of fundraising pressure. Our focus then returned to our mission and in-country partners. Most schools were closing due to COVID-19. Building and construction, however, is seen as an essential service therefore schools continued to be built in rural Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
A Letter from our Founders
Despite the negative impacts of COVID-19, we still managed to build 18 schools and support 4519 students across all of our operating countries. These students have slowly started returning to school over the past few months. As a pivot and in response to an urgent need, we also supported a disaster relief food and water program with Scholars of Sustenance in Bali, Indonesia.
Thanks to our Wise Owls, Principals and donors we feel deeply fortunate and grateful to have been relatively unscathed from this turbulent year. For now, we remain focused on our mission and we are expanding our programs to include a new technology with innovative partners to build resilient and cost-effective eco-schools made from recycled plastic waste. More to come on this in the year ahead.
Thank you for your unwavering support. It is because of you, the people who believe in us, that Classroom of Hope continues to survive and thrive.
With gratitude,
Duncan Ward
Founder/CEO
Nicola Courtin
Founder/Creative Director