Welcome to Upper Canada District School Board Portal - Maxville Public School Teacher Kathy Lucking Establishes School in Madagascar

Kathy Lucking has spent the last two years planning, organizing and fundraising for the Madagascar School Project, a charitable organization she founded in 2008 to help build a school in Ambatoharanana, a small village in Madagascar. At the beginning of the school year she took six month’s leave – without pay – to oversee the school creation and to teach for three months. Last month, Lucking received a personal letter from Premier Dalton McGuinty, congratulating her on the successful establishment of Sekoly Lova Soa, a name that translates to “School of Good Inheritance.”

“It was pretty exciting to receive that letter,” Lucking said. “But I don’t do this for recognition. I do it because it needs to be done.”

Lucking’s interest in Madagascar came in 2007 when she was researching summer volunteer opportunities. The 20-year teaching veteran happened to come across Mary Sherwood’s name, an Ontario-based missionary who established an orphanage and inner city outreach center fifteen years earlier in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo.

“I was inspired by Mary,” Lucking said. “I decided to teach at her outreach centre for one month and see what it was like.”

Lucking said her experience that summer was nothing short of life-altering.

“Only one child from each family was allowed to attend school because there wasn’t the space or supplies,” she said. “These are families with many children. You can imagine how many kids are left on the outside unable to get an education.”

This realization inspired a new idea.

“I decided to raise money to build a school in Madagascar,” she said. “When I returned from my trip, I presented this idea to school staff and members of the community and it generated a lot of interest.”

Lucking figured that in order to build the school and buy supplies, she would need to fundraise approximately $25,000. So, from September to December the school and community rallied together to raise funds.

“Within three months we had $6,000 from school and community fundraising,” she said. This amount allowed her to return to Madagascar during Christmas break and purchase land.

“We were fortunate enough to have been offered a donation of land by a church,” she said. “The location was perfect because the locals were some of the poorest people in the country. They were in need of sufficient food and clothing as well as education.”

When Lucking returned to Maxville, fundraising efforts were in full force.

“The students created something called a Brick by Brick fund,” she said. “With each $1 they donated, a paper brick with their name was taped to the wall in our main hallway. Soon the wall was full of bricks and we had raised $1,400. The students truly felt like they were building the school.”

The rest of the school year saw school, church and community-based charity dinners, barbeques, bake sales, and auctions as well as donations from individuals and local businesses. In July 2008, Lucking returned to Madagascar with $20,000.

“The first four months were spent overseeing the construction of the school as well as a vegetable garden that would be used for student lunches,” Lucking said. “The school was to have two rooms for 40 children. We held a three-day registration and by the end of it we had 66 students registered. We decided to create morning and afternoon programs to accommodate everyone.”

With the money raised in Maxville, Lucking was also able to hire a school director, two teachers, two teacher aides and a security guard. Parents offered to maintain the vegetable garden to help pay for their child’s enrolment.

“For most kids the rice and vegetable mixture the school serves is the only meal they get all day,” Lucking said. “Many parents can’t afford pencils or notebooks either so we were able to provide those too.”

Sekoly Lova Soa opened its doors October 20, 2008 and Lucking stayed to teach the students until mid-January of this year.

“Some of our students were nine years old and they had never been to school before,” Lucking said. “Some children walked an hour and a half to school every day. They never wanted to go out for recess.”

Mid-trip Lucking and her students received another special surprise from Maxville Public School.

“Maxville students raised enough money to buy a pair of Crocs for every Sekoly student,” she said. “The children were so excited. They never wanted to take off their shoes because they worried they would be stolen.”

Since returning to Canada, Lucking has been actively fundraising to pay $560 a month for Sekoly staff salaries and food for students. Fortunately, she said the Madagascar School Project has gained many local, national and international sponsors (including other UCDSB schools) and has been recognized by local media including Ottawa’s ‘A’ channel.

“This community has been so wonderful,” she said.

Lucking’s new goal? To expand the school with a new six-classroom building during her next six-month stay starting this July – a challenge that will cost about $50,000.

“We’ve raised about $23,000 but money is still coming in,” she said.

Lucking said she and her husband sold their farm and moved in with family to help accommodate her six-month-a-year salary. But even with the lifestyle change, Lucking said the Madagascar School Project has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.

“Education is the best way to secure a safe world where people have the tools they need to make better choices,” she said.

To see the “Wish List” of needed supplies or to make a donation, visit the Madagascar School Project Web site at www.madagascarschoolproject.com.