Large Donation to CARITAS Denmark from Skt. Josef's School

Children help children - 50th anniversary at Skt. Josef's School

At Skt. Josef’s School, we've had charity fundraisers for 50 years – in fact, this fundraiser is a bit of an anniversary. Our first fundraiser was way back in 1972, when a single Danish 3. klasse had been teaching about children in need in Calcutta, India.

Donation and joint collection

Friday the 18th March was the first time in 2 years when (almost) all students at Skt. Josef’s School were gathered on the occasion of the large donation of DKK 94,416 to CARITAS Denmark. We celebrated the day with a lot of traditions: Common songs, both in Danish and English, speeches, and not least a very emotional moment, where the students spontaneously erupted in both applause and happy shouts, when they could see pictures from almost all classes on a big screen, back from December, illustrating the many fundraising projects students and teachers had been working on.

A firm tradition is to sing "The Charity Song" in conjunction with our charity week. Written by choir director and teacher at the school, Gitte Elmann - the song is a powerful reminder that there is war and strife in other parts of the world, and we as humans are obliged to help where we can.

Calcutta and Mother Teresa - first collection in 1972

In 1972, some Danish 3. Klasse students become aware of that poor children were taken to a Mother Teresa orphanage where they received help. The students became so interested in helping these children that they asked their teacher for time to help. They got it! They wrote a small book that the parents helped print and sell, and in this way, they got started the Skt. Josef’s School's first collection for children in need. In fact, this kind of collection continued for 25 years, because more classes wanted to join, and quickly it became the whole school that collected.

From that day until today, there have been charity fundraisers at Skt. Josef’s School. We have collected for many different countries and many different projects. Always for children in need and always with a focus on teachers and students at the school also learning about why we should help and about the country we are collecting for, as now Burkina Faso in Africa. At the fundraiser last December, we couldn't open the school and have a marketplace like we've done before. But all classes helped make this fundraiser special.

Children have been helping children for 50 years

Over the past 50 years, Skt. Josef’s School has made fundraisers for various charitable causes, both in Denmark and in developing countries. It is an event that brings the school together in a very special way and makes the students reflect on their own lives and gives an insight into the challenging lives of other children.

Usually, the school is transformed into a large marketplace where all classes produce all sorts of things, bake, paint, make videos, stop-motion movies, dance shows, chemical experiments, flea market and much more. Over the years, it has always been the case that the week culminated with an Open House event where parents and other visitors could buy all the produced items. Last year, this couldn't be done because of COVID-19 — that's why the school did the fundraiser online and at home. The students were very active with productions of things that could be sold to their close associates, good deeds were done, and active students ran in the park. All to raise money for the children of Burkina Faso. In addition to the many activities during charity week, the students also received lessons about the country and the project that was collected for, and why Skt. Josef’s School’s fundraisers are made in this large format.

"It is very important to the school that we have specific activities and initiatives where we make a positive difference to our surroundings, says Principal, Mads Frost and continues: "It is important that the students gain an understanding of the human aspect of such a fundraiser."

The project supported by Skt. Josef’s School

1. PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE:
To form a locally constituted peace committee in each city. A committee must represent all groups in society, i.e., Young, old, women, men, all religions, as well as people who have lived in the city all their lives and some who have recently joined as refugees from another area of Burkina (when you are a refugee in your own country it is called an internally displaced person). The committees prevent and resolve conflicts that increasingly arise when many internally displaced people settle in a city that already lacks schools, hospitals, clean drinking water, etc.

2. EMPOWERING WOMEN'S OPPORTUNITIES:
We organize uneducated women into saving-loan groups. This means that the women meet once a week and pay an agreed amount, e.g., DKK 5, into the common fund. At the same time, each woman receives training that can give them an income, e.g., raising goats/making soap/making juice for sale. As the community fund grows, every woman can apply for a small loan to kickstart her business. In this way, the women can earn money to contribute to the family.

3. YOUNG PEOPLE:
We make sure that young people without education get a skilled education so that they can provide for themselves and their families in the future. For example, this year we have educations as a tailor and mechanic. We also have a leisure home in each of the two cities, where children from the age of 10-17 can come.

It is not common to have leisure homes in Burkina Faso, as children are most often cared for at home. The young children play mostly in the leisure homes while their mothers are working. The older children, many of whom are internally displaced and thus out of the school system, receive education at the after-school homes until they can get a place in their new school.

Additional info: Lone Rietz; lr@sjs-roskilde.dk

Photos: Skt. Josef’s School

Caritas - who are they?

Caritas Denmark cooperates with Caritas Burkina Faso, which is called OCADES. Caritas is the relief organization of the Catholic Church. In Burkina Faso, Caritas Denmark has had a project since January 2020 to support a better integration of children of internally displaced families in the cities of Tougan and Ouahigouya in northwestern Burkina Faso.