In the summer of 2011, Bread of Life, an MCC partner organization in Serbia, distributed material aid, including school kits, to a squatter settlement near Belgrade, Serbia. This relatively new settlement is inhabited primarily by Roma people. Many of the Roma left solid houses in southeastern parts of Serbia in search of jobs in Belgrade. Their homes in this settlement are little more than small shelters assembled from cardboard, metal sheets and wood boards found in the garbage.
Bread of life workers described how, as the distribution began, the faces of those gathered beamed with joy as they received health kits, comforters, and new towels. Distribution went on without much noise until workers began to give out school kits in colorful, handmade bags. The volume level increased as children received and opened the school kits. They were clearly delighted to see many notebooks in different colors, colored pencils, erasers, and rulers. "Hey look, I got this from America!" shouted one older boy, while lifting out spiral bound notebooks, "I am going to write in it when I go to school." Adults looked on in amusement, gladly sharing the children's excitement.
Thank you for your efforts to bring joy to children throughout the world who are in need of the benefit of an education. Please limit your generosity to the following items:
· 4 spiral or perforated notebooks (8.5in x 10.5in and 70 sheets)
· 4 unsharpened pencils
· 1 ruler (flat, flexible plastic; indicating both 30cm and 12in)
· 12 colored pencils (in packaging)
· 1 large pencil eraser
School kits are distributed in a double drawstring cloth bag (11in x 16in). You may sew the bag yourself, request bags from an MCC collection center, or donate contents that we will place in a bag. Deliver completed kits to a drop-off location near you. For more information, call the Ephrata Material Resource Center at 717-733-2847 or send an email to, lheft@mcc.org.
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