ASSIGINACK—Volunteering has always been a part of Ashley Quackenbush’s upbringing. “My family has always been involved in volunteering,” she said. “When I was in high school I was involved in raising money for overseas projects.”
Now that she has graduated from high school, Ms. Quackenbush is continuing her charitable work, joining the Me To We volunteer trip to Tanzania leaving this May. The Me To We initiative is in partnership with the Free The Children organization. “The purpose of the trip is to meet with community leaders from another culture and to understand their daily challenges and joys,” she said. “We are also going to be helping to build a school in Tanzania.”
Ms. Quackenbush was raising funds during the Annual Assiginack Egg Hunt at the Fields’ property on Highway 6. Her Toonies for Tanzania refreshment booth was dealing out a steady stream of hot chocolate and coffee while collecting donations.
During the trip, Ms. Quackenbush will be working on a number of development projects alongside local community members such as digging water wells, building the foundation for the school and planting crops.
“We will also be going on a water walk with local women, try handmaking a traditional talking stick called a ‘Rungu,” she said, adding that they will be beading with local artisan’s and go on a “safari.”
While on the trip, Ms. Quackenbush will be taking part in leadership training, skill building workshops and action planning, bringing the skills she has learned back to the Island along with a greater understanding and fresh perspective of sustainability and development issues.
There is focus for the donations that can be made, noted Ms. Quackenbush. For instance, $25 will buy a bundle of baby chicks, while a school kit for a child will also run $25, while providing primary education for one child or a goat is $50 and clean water for a family for life, a year of healthy lunches for 10 children comes in at a mere $250. Clean water for life for a school can run to $5,000 and a classroom for a community is $10,000. There is something to suit every pocketbook or community fundraising goal. More information can be found at freethechildren.com.
While Tanzania has a booming tourism industry, that prosperity leaves many on the outside as 70 percent of the population still live in remote rural communities and half of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day.
Free The Children’s efforts in the adopt a village program are based on five pillars, explains Ms. Quackenbush. Those pillars are things that most Canadians have come to take for granted: education, water, health, food and income.
Ms. Quackenbush hopes that her efforts will help build a solid foundation for those five pillars while at the same time helping her hone skills that will increase her abilities in her own community upon her return.
