This is a photo from the Opening Ceremony of the Passports School, in Preah Vihear Cambodia. Funds to build this school were raised through Passports with Purpose in 2009.

Standing in front of 100+ kids, most of whom came from homes with no running water, many of whom are lucky to have survived early childhood, and realizing that by building this school, my friends and I had just given each and every one of them a huge push forward towards a better future was something I didn’t expect but which I will never forget.

I’ve come home to Seattle even more passionate about the education of women and children in the developing world but optimistic that this is a problem where I, and you, can make a positive impact. There are great organizations already there, working with communities building schools and libraries and teaching. Fundraising for these organizations is the single best thing we can do to help them continue their great work.

This year the Passports with Purpose goal is to raise $80,000 to build two libraries in Zambia in partnership with RoomToRead. Here’s why:
– 86% of Zambians live on less than $2 a day.
– 34% of children do not attend primary school.
– 76% of children do not attend secondary school.

The (virtual) Passports with Purpose team works to choose projects that are community-supported. These libraries will be built next to existing primary school buildings with the communities donating 35% of the cost of building in volunteer hours and donated materials. This involvement is a better guarantee of community ownership and government of the facilities after the construction project has completed.
RoomToRead includes teacher training in the project scope – and books, lots of age-appropriate books.

At Passports with Purpose we like to encourage donations by offering prizes. We have prizes. Lots of prizes. If you want to win a tour in Thailand, a week in Maui, an Xbox Kinect (with games and an Xbox Live subscription), and overnight stays a bunch of fancy hotels in cities all over the US, check out the prizes. For each $10 you donate, you get an entry into the free prize drawing of your choice.

This post was a little longer than I intended for a photo post, but so it goes. Head on over to DeliciousBaby for more travel-themed Friday photo fun.

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