We are proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with the Darfur Peace and Development Organization, a grassroots organization begun by a group of Darfurians in the US, This group funds projects for women and children in northern Darfur, an area which was hit hard by the conflict and in which most of the larger NGOs can not work. This Agency (DPDO) has, for example, provided solar cookers for village women, in order to save them from attacks and abductions while collecting firewood.

We have become involved in their Schools Project, which has been successful in supporting primary schools in villages where education has been disrupted by years of conflict. Many of the school buildings have been destroyed by bombs and the government no longer provides ANY funds for education. However, DPDO has been able to fund 12 schools, providing anything from the building of makeshift structures, to teachers’ salaries and basic teaching materials, to donkeys to haul water!

In 2007 Child Shelter International donated funds for a school in Abdulshakar, northern Darfur. There will be over 650 students, 13 teachers, a principal and 5 staff members, Our sponsorship provided salaries and some materials In 2008 we contributed greatly to the country-wide text book fund. We are so glad to be of help in an area that has seen so much suffering.

We also have continued to provide support for the Darfur Peace and Development Organization’s (DPDO) twelve Schools of Peace in the conflict area of northern Darfur. Last year, we donated funds to support one school of more than 600 children for an entire year. This year we are providing funds for textbooks for the schools that DPDO supports. The goal is to provide one textbook for every two children in these schools. The government of Sudan does not provide any funding for education in this war-torn area of northern Darfur—neither teachers’ salaries, textbooks or buildings.