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South Africa - Albert Street Refugee School (2008)
Albert Street Refugee School
Central Methodist Mission
79 Pritchard & Small Street
Johannesburg, South Africa
Background: The Albert Street School, located in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, has been shut down since 1958, during the Apartheid era.
It recently reopened in July of 2008 as a refugee school under the direction of Bishop Paul Verryn and the Central City Mission.
The school now teaches Grade 1 through 11 and comprises approx. 120 refugee children (mainly from Zimbabwe), all of which are refugees - even the staff of 10 teachers, 3 administrators, 4 cooks, 2 guards, and one maintenance staff person are refugees. Of the 120 children, 90% of them are UNACCOMPANIED MINORS, so they rely on the school to help them with not only with their education, but also their day-to-day needs of food, clothing and shelter.
Currently, the students and the school staff have no homes, and all sleep in very crowded and sometimes unsafe conditions (on cement floors & stairwells) at the Central City Methodist Mission Church, and are part of the 800-900 refugees that sleep at the church nightly.
As you see in the photos, the children have no desks and proper school materials, and the school is in desperate need of donations:
- Blankets
- Staff salaries
- School and sport uniforms
- Funiture - bookshelves, chairs, desks, tables, etc.
- Food for the daily meals provided to the students and staff
- Computers and teaching materials
- Cash donations to pay for construction, repair and upkeep of the school
- Work and construction teams are needed to repair, paint, replaster and build additional rooms -- there is a great need to clean, repair appliances and renovate the rooms to a hygienic, mold-free environment !
If you, your church, or your nonprofit are interested in helping, please contact roxanerichter@yahoo.com
 
In July/August of 2008, Roxane Richter, EMT, and Dr. Tom Flowers of World Missions Possible, along with Ted Warnock of United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) and Richard Bosart of South African Methodist Volunteers in Mission (SAMVIM) sorted and delivered approx. 600 school books from Rotary International in Bedfordview. Donations from World Missions Possible and UMCOR included bookshelves, three large tables, 70 Bibles for students and staff, numerous school supplies, chalkboards, 70 shirts, soccer balls, as well as OTC medical supplies for the school children. To date, World Missions Possible donated over $1,500 in cash and items.
 
To Help or Donate, Please Contact:
Roxane Richter
Vice President, World Missions Possible (USA)
Richard Bosart
Director, Southern Africa Methodist Volunteers in Mission (SAMVIM)
OUR VISION ON REFUGEE EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS
By: William Kandowe and Alpha Zhou
Albert Street Refugee School Staff
It is an education that has a dual purpose:
(a) Education for healing and rehabilitation (i.e the phychological aspect)
(b) Education for skills development of the refugee or the displaced person that will enable him /her to earn a living abroad and participate in the future economic development of his or her country.
Forced migration destroys a person socially, physically and psychologically. It is therefore these important aspects of life that need to be redressed, and thus the planners of refugee programmes should focus on them especially in educational programmes.
During migration a person loses property job, family ties and lastly social or cultural ethics. People in most cases resort to prostitution, crime, begging and drug abuse.
PROVISIONS OF REFUGEE EDUCATION:
It must provide the following:
(a) Accommodation
(b) FOOD
(c) Clothing
(d) Counselling
(e) Free education
(f) Recreational facilities
TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS
We must have an educational board that is appointed by the Bishop which will be tasked to plan; implement and assess educational activities. The role of board members include marketing, registration, determination of teachers salaries, school infrastructure development staff recruitment and ensuring competitive remuneration of staff management of financial resources.etc
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