LIVING with Heart & Purpose
Crofton House School is built on the unique experiences and voices of everyone in our community— students, parents, staff, alumnae, and our extended community members. In this article, we feature the story of Bonnie Sutherland, who attended Crofton House School from 1960 to 1963.
When Bonnie Sutherland and her husband, Donald, set off on a global adventure in 1992 to celebrate his retirement, they expected breathtaking landscapes and cultural exchanges. Both were teachers in the Delta School District, and Bonnie took a leave of absence from her role as Advanced Placement Coordinator for their trip.
What wasn’ t anticipated was how a school visit in Zimbabwe would redefine Bonnie’ s career journey and transform education for thousands of children— bolstered by a dedication to citizenship and a passion for giving back, fostered during her time at Crofton House.
“ I certainly developed an appreciation for others at Crofton House, and gained the confidence to move beyond yourself to a larger plane,” Bonnie said.“ I’ ve taken that with me, and I have to appreciate the staff and teachers for that.”
EMPTY SHELVES AND A PROMISE
The Sutherlands’ trip— spanning Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Africa— took an unexpected turn in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. There, friends introduced them to a new school in the area.“ Victoria Falls is raw and rough— we had to wait for the elephants to clear the courtyard! The school had no books; they had nothing, no resources,” Bonnie said.“ We said we will come home and see what we can do.”
It was a tentative promise, but back in BC, it became a mission.
EXPERIENCING EUROPE
The couple then settled briefly in England, flew to Greece and visited Israel.“ It was a wonderful time because, in 1992, there was quite a lot of hope. We were able to go anywhere and everywhere, Bethlehem and so on,” Bonnie said. They continued to travel through Italy and Germany before ending their trip on the wine route in France.“ And then, one morning, my husband said to me,‘ I am ready to go home.’”
Altogether, they travelled for five and a half months.
A NEW CHAPTER
Their arrival home in BC held an immediate twist. Bonnie had been accepted into Simon Fraser University’ s Master of Business Administration program— an application she had submitted before their trip began. For the next two years, she balanced teaching with her own classwork. By graduation, Bonnie had the business degree to back her vision for that promise made in Zimbabwe.
FROM CLASSROOM TO CONTAINERS
In her role as Advanced Placement Coordinator for Delta School District, Bonnie persuaded her superintendent to donate the district’ s discarded textbooks to the school in Zimbabwe— with one caveat: no landfill dumping.“ There was a cost to sending things people donated, and they often ended up in the landfill with previous projects,” she explained.
Around the same time, she became more involved with the Rotary Club, particularly Rotary World Help. This program shipped medical supplies to Ukraine in the early’ 90s and pivoted to support Bonnie’ s shipments of educational materials— growing into the non-profit Afretech Aid Society.
Today, the organization ships 30,000 books annually to schools in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa— among its 63 countries— in 40-foot containers. Donations come through Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health Authority, schools in the Fraser Valley, or private donations. Their goal is to fill the educational resource gap and support local educators through training and general support.
“ In the summertime, my garage becomes a processing factory, and I have volunteers come in two or three times a week. For older people, it’ s something they can actually do. It’ s turned into a really wonderful way to spend retirement,” Bonnie said.“ There’ s nothing better than helping other people out.”
In addition to educational supplies, Afretech has shipped containers with medical equipment: beds, stretchers, examination tables and even the entire contents for operating rooms,
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