THE POVERTY WALK CHALLENGE 4 AFRICA: Would you and your family walk, run, or bike for 5 days (3/28-4/1/2022) in support of K12 students in rural Africa who walk 5 to 10 miles to and from school each day? This challenge is a virtual poverty simulation, personal journey, family fitness event, and fundraising event in which K12 students and their families, college students, and adults will collectively walk, run, or bike at least 10 miles in 5 days, from Monday, March 28- Friday, April 1st, 2022.

Like millions of impoverished children across Africa, I grew up in villages where basic necessities such as electricity, clean water, indoor plumbing, and health clinics did not exist. Like so many children across Africa, I walked long distances to school, to collect dirty water from rivers and ponds, and to farm. I am sharing part of my personal story because of the psychological, physical, health, economic challenges associated with walking long distances to schools, particularly for girls. I am speaking about those challenges because millions of African children are voiceless and their struggles are real. I know the emotional and physical toll of walking 5-10 miles to and from school. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that middle school girls are raped while walking to and from school. Growing up in those same villages, this was unheard of. I left the village roughly 30 years ago. I can only imagine the trauma, physical and emotional damages that these brave young girls have to endure to simply earn a low-quality education. They go through all these traumatic experiences daily to sit in classrooms where they are no computers, whiteboards, toilets, textbooks, etc. 

I cannot sit idle. I cannot be quiet. I cannot be indifferent. I cannot feel overwhelmed by the challenges before me. I have to do something. I started a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, Games For Africa, to solely focus on addressing the pernicious inequities in education in Africa and improving the academic skills of K12 students in Africa.  

I am launching a fundraiser,  A school Bus to Protect Girls and K12 Students in the north of Cote d'Ivoire.  This is not only about transporting students to and from school. It is also about protecting girls from sexual predators who prey on them as they walk to school in the wee hours of the morning, 4-5 am and return home at night time around 7-7:30 pm. Watch this video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zXPH57erS7Df7-0oc_oaTFKSMn32pcw2/view?usp=sharing

I am asking you, my friends, colleagues, and everyone else that I have been blessed to know and/or work with, to consider making a donation towards my fundraising goals. Donate any amount. Together, we will purchase a bus to protect girls and K12 students. No girls should be subject to any form of trauma for simply wanting to go to school. Stand with me, my friends. Together, we will protect these young and voiceless girls and boys. We will empower them to self-reliance through quality education. Games For Africa provides personalized academic support and STEM education to K12 students in Africa. I thank you for your support and appreciate it.

Sincerely, 

Darius Coulibaly