Mission
African Village School Fund’s mission is to provide sustainable interventions and financial support to the orphans and vulnerable children of Ekudzeni. Its programmes focus primarily on accessible pre-school and primary education, ensuring food security through daily meals, livestock and agricultural projects, the arrangement of emergency accommodation, and using sport as a HIV educational tool.
COVID has hit Eswatini badly and then if that wasn’t enough, they’ve been recently hit by a devastating cyclone. Once COVID decreases and they are able to re-open the pre-school the plan is to raise enough money to fully fund 20 pre-school children, which includes uniforms and two meals a day (breakfast & lunch), for at least two years to enable the community to get back on their feet without needing to worry about educating and feeding the children.
The charity is currently ensuring food security via their ongoing agricultural project and pig breeding programme whilst supporting the most vulnerable with additional food parcels as required. Currently, Lynn has raised enough to support the pre-school for the first year once it can re-open. The charity is well on its way to having enough funding for the second year and TEAM LEWIS’ donation will go a long way in achieving this plan.
Why it matters
This charity was founded by Robert Nestor. Robert Nestor is TEAM LEWIS team member Mia Savastano’s friend’s father who sadly passed away last year in February 2020 of a very rare cancer. African Village Schools was created by Robert to give back to where he came from. Since tragically passing away the charity has been managed by Lynn Nestor (Robert’s wife) By donating to this charity, it would feed mouths, it would send children to school for an entire year. It would continue to keep an incredible cause alive started by a man that unfortunately is no longer with us.
TEAM LEWIS is proud to support African Village School Fund through its Causes program.