Project Summary: Classroom building and classroom funding help to push the Web3 space forward. The opportunity we have in web3 is to make a new model around public goods is to replaces the old system that keep people backward so that we have the chance to change the world for better. Contributing to this project will help to give the gift of education to out-of-school children in poverty who need education to survive. This project will help us to construct six (6) classroom blocks funded with crypto and provide basic school supplies to ensure 100 vulnerable children from the age of 3-12 years receive education annually. This project will train children on how to use internet to enable them to grab knowledge through e-learning in order to break the barrier of learning. Supporting this initiative will also help us to create and post Youtube content, newsletter, and blog posts on our website on how Gitcoin grant is helping us to ensure vulnerable children have access to education.

Education helps people to understand and empowers them with the knowledge needed to act as agents of change. We believe that technology will help us to alleviate poverty in Africa which was why we started accepting crypto donations since 2019. Denying children access to education will hinder the recent progress made in the area of information technology and other sectors of economic development.

The Challenge

On February 2023 Poverty index survey reveal that 63% of people living in Nigeria are poor. 20 million children are out of school and girls are greatly affected. The government is not putting enough effort to prevent this from happening. Leaving those in poverty without help means putting them at risk of child labour, child marriage, sexual persecution and disease as they are not guaranteed basic rights. It is a huge challenge for children denied access to education. There is usually no source of drinking water and hundreds of children share two (2) toilets in public schools in Nigeria. There is no functional computer in most of the public schools where children practicalize what they learnt in the classroom. This project will address all these challenges and impact more than 100 vulnerable children annually.

The Solution and how the funds will be used

Education is one of the best tools to defeat poverty. Contributing to this project will help us to construct six (6) classroom blocks and provide other basic supplies needed for vulnerable children to learn and give back to their communities. It is important to continue to fund this initiative until vulnerable children complete their secondary education. Our goal is to use the funds we raise on Gitcoin to construct the classroom block and provide all the basic supplies needed in the school before the next academic session which starts September 2023. The work in progress will be updated on our Twitter handle, Tiktok and Youtube channel etc.

A $5 donation will help us to provide school supplies for a child $2.5 will help us to plant a tree $300 will help us to buy a computer for vulnerable children to learn in school. $1 will help us to buy two (2) pieces of blocks for classroom construction. A $10 donation will help us to buy a bag of cement for classroom construction. $15 will help us to buy a rod for the classroom building. No amount of donations is too small to help us to make a difference.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED WITH DONATIONS WE RECEIVED ON GITCOIN PLATFORM

1. We were able to use the funds to purchase school supplies and teaching aids for 38 pupils in our school Helpers Foundation School Oji-River. The school supplies we provided aid to the fast improvement of pupils in learning. The funds also help to reduce the risks children face when they are not in school such as child labour, sexual abuse, child marriage and mental well-being.

2. We are currently using part of the fund we received in constructing a playground in our school. The playground will help our pupils to develop imaginative skills to gain self-confidence and advance critical thinking capabilities. From our findings, most of our pupils come from unhappy homes where there is no love and full of hardship. They only feel belonging and are happy when they get to school. Most times children open up and feel free when they are playing. The playground will be ready for us before 27th April 2023.

What our organization have achieved since 2016 to date:

We have impacted over 3,950 lives. Without the support from our volunteers, donors and the entire Helpers Social Development Foundation management team, our success stories today will not be possible.

1. We have been at the forefront of eradicating the root cause of poverty in Nigeria through the distribution of free school supplies in public schools to ensure underprivileged children have access to education in various rural communities with our local partners.

2. Through the support from our donors, we were able to establish Helpers Foundation nursery and primary school in the Oji-River area of Enugu State due to the growing number of out-of-school children in the area. The school has a population of 38 pupils receiving free education in the school. We planned to increase the enrollment rate in September 2023. Our goal is to construct classroom blocks to enrol more underprivileged children in the school.

3. We Constructed sanitary facilities in public schools using open defecation to prevent teachers and pupils from defecating openly. These sanitary facilities constructed helped to prevent the spread of disease and increase the enrollment rate in the school.

4. We carried out a campaign with the aim to educate children on the danger of child marriage and sexual abuse prevention. The campaign enlightened the children on the danger of child marriage and sexual abuse. The children were educated to report when they are faced with such challenges.

Helpers Social Development Foundation remains the best humanitarian organization in Nigeria working in line with achieving SDGs17 across every community in Nigeria.