TheBulletin.ca Journal of Downtown Toronto
By Kimberly Spice –
Superninjas (from left to right) Vanessa Wilson-Proux, Sarah Dale-Harris, Jessica Chaikowsky, Lindy Frank, Jennifer Atkinson and April-Dawn Blackwell raised money for a new school.
In 2008, Church and Front St. resident Jessica Chaikowsky watched a newscast of two aid workers killed in Afghanistan and as she watched the bodies being loaded into coffins she wondered if her friend Shirley Case, an aid worker, knew them.
She learned later that one of the bodies was Case.
“I remember the morning she was killed I saw on the news these two women, and their bodies being put into coffins and all the news shots, but my first thought was I hope Shirley didn’t know that person,” Chaikowsky says. “Then I didn’t think too much of it until later in the day when my sister called me in the afternoon saying that they had released the names. It was her.”
Chaikowsky, now 40 years old, did not want Case’s commitment and sacrifice to go unnoticed or forgotten. Through her brother Mathew—who had previously worked with the organization—she connected up with SchoolBox, a charity which builds schools and contributes educational materials for communities in Central America.
In February 2010, Chaikowsky decided to raise money to build the Shirley Case School in the impoverished village of Monte Olivo, Nicaragua. The project will replace the town’s current learning facility, a decrepit coffee warehouse, with a new three-room schoolhouse.
She called the fundraising group Superninjas, after Case’s email address.
To date, Superninjas has raised approximately $50,000—which has surpassed their goal of $30,000. The extra funds will be used to build a library and possibly a creative arts centre and a sports court so the children can play soccer.
The SchoolBox model for sustainable education is building the school “to engage the community that has already made the investment and has already engaged in education for their children and that way the community provides the labour to help build the school,” Chaikowsky explains. “We’re just there to pitch in a little with the volunteer programs and the ministry of education pays the teachers salaries.”
“That way we can ensure that the school is going to continue.”
Chaikowsky, along with a number of supporters, will make a ten-day excursion to the site in May to participate in the school’s construction. She will make more trips later in the year to follow up on the project and to keep her contributors updated with the progress by making frequent Facebook updates at the “Shirley-Case-School-Project.”
Chaikowsky remains amazed at the generosity of people and how quickly her fundraising efforts had surpassed her expectations. She has not looked beyond the Shirley Case School, but a part of her has not closed the door on future endeavours as her project is still accepting funds.
“I think of the extra money that we have now and we may have some extra to consider building another school,” Chaikowsky commented. “I don’t think any of us are committing at this point but in my heart I think we may continue to try to build more schools eventually.”
For information, visit www.schoolbox.ca.
