2017 TechnologyThis year our efforts focused on raising money to bring computer technology to our sister school. Currently, they have no Internet nor computers. We raised over $11,000! This money is being used to install ground wiring for Internet access. As soon as this is finished, an organization called bits2bytes will fly to our sister school to supply them with laptops, tablets, and phones.
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2016 School BusOur most successful fundraising campaign raised over $10,000 to buy a school bus. Prior to the purchase of the bus, students from the Elizabeth Sele Mulbah Institute were riding motorcycles or walking along heavily trafficked roads to get to school.
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2015 Learning PacketsBel Aire helped during the Ebola crisis which shut down schools across Liberia for five months. Raising over $8,000 helped to pay teacher salaries, run the generator, and buy supplies needed to make learning packets for students. This allowed students to continue to work and learn while their school was closed. When their school reopened, there was enough money left to supply several students with scholarships to help them finish the school year in Liberia.
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2013 Book Drive
Bel Aire students couldn't imagine going to school without a well stocked library. They held a used book drive and partnered with The Global Book Exchange in San Rafael, CA to send textbooks and library books to their sister school. The money they raised paid for international shipping charges. The books took over five months to arrive in Monrovia, Liberia! |
2012 Building a WellWhen we learned that students at the Elizabeth Sele Mulbah Institute were walking four miles round trip from school just to get drinking water, a partnership with the school began. Bel Aire fifth graders held a walkathon, and the money that they raised helped purchase and install a well for fresh drinking water on the school grounds. Bel Aire students began to call the Institute our "sister school."
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2009 Solar Cooker
Former Bel Aire principal, Patti Purcell, brought solar cookers to Bel Aire after attending a conference on international education. Students began using the solar cookers as part of a lunchtime enrichment program.
A local Marin doctor and Rotarian, Dr. Art Ammann, heard about the use of solar cookers at Bel Aire School. He told us about his work at St. Joseph's Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia where he treated pregnant women with AIDS. Suffering from malnutrition, they needed a steady source of nutritious food. Bel Aire students held fundraisers to purchase a Villager Solar Cooker. The Rotary Club of Tiburon-Belvedere helped with the purchase and shipping of the cooker. A partnership was born between Bel Aire School and the local Rotary Club. The Rotary Club has continued to provide donations and a crucial connection to the Rotary Club of Sinkor in Monrovia, Liberia. They make it possible for Bel Aire to wire its fundraising money each year to Liberia. |