Amy Macaskill spent some time volunteering at the Eco Children organisation; here, she learned about their bursary programme and decided to fund one young lady’s dream of private education.
South Africa (22 August 2022) – Amy Macaskill became inspired to do something after hearing about Malala Yousafzai’s goal of empowering young girls, so she has set a goal of her own. Amy hopes to raise R300,000 to cover the bursary programme at the Eco Children organisation based in Hoedspruit, Mpumalanga.
Eco Children is an organisation sowing the seeds of change and educating children about the environment and how to protect it for the future.
Eco Children focuses on environmental education by working with the Limpopo and Mpumalanga communities to drive whole school development in a sustainable way. They adopt a school and focus on every aspect, from feeding programmes and literacy to school upgrades and social development. They apply a holistic and sustainable approach to uplifting students and the schools they adopt.
One of their programmes is a bursary fund that selects students from the schools and gives them the opportunity to receive a private education. Amy chose Eco Children as her beneficiary because of this programme. Her hope is to cover the tuition of one of the bursary students. To do this, she is going to spend four days walking through a Big five game reserve, and she is only 15 years old! She has named her adventure “Walking Wild for Girls” (WW4G).
“In order to raise the funds required annually, I have committed to walking 90km along the Klaserie River, over 4 days, in ”Big 5 country” in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve.” – Amy Macaskill
A private sponsor has stepped forward and covered Amy’s costs to do this walk which takes place in September, so all the funds she raises will now go directly to the Eco Children Bursary Programme. The team from Eco Children are moved by Amy’s desire to support their programme.
“We are incredibly touched by her dedication”, “One of our top projects is offering bursaries for promising young children – who live in extreme financial hardship and would otherwise struggle to make the most of their talent – to go to a local private school. It is a genuinely life-changing opportunity for these learners and their families as we offer comprehensive financial and emotional support all the way through to tertiary” – Emily Whiting, Eco Children
Emily shared that Amy spent some time volunteering at Eco Children, and that was when she decided to support the organisation, seeing the success their programmes have had with the youth in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Emily shared that one of the bursary recipients has completed her high schooling and has now started her studies in LLB Law, proof that the programme truly empowers.
If you would like to support Amy’s incredible challenge, you can do so via GivenGain here. She has managed to raise R44,833.00 so far. You can find out more about Eco Children here.