First Posted - Dec 2014 Change: Appleseedlings Transition

     While a necessary part of life, change can be difficult. We started ‘Appleseed School’ when we found that we wanted to be a part of the lives of the children we were meeting. We wanted to help improve their lives but most of all, we just liked being around them. They made us happy, so Appleseed began. 

    ​We operated as a community school for 3 years. During that time there have been extreme highs and extreme lows, but the one thing that has never wavered is the smiles of the kids and how they made us feel. ​ We believe strongly that we must have a scaleable and sustainable model in order for Appleseed to be successful for the long term. To that end, we have decided to make some changes to the structure of RHO Appleseed.

The new Appleseed, will be RHO Appleseed Library and Community Center. We will continue to serve the 100 Appleseed students at no cost to their families. In January, current Appleseed students will attend the local government school, and will receive 3 hours of small group tutoring per week at Appleseed. They will have a meal voucher for each of their tutoring days. In addition, Appleseed kids will receive scholarships for extra curricular classes such as soccer, choir, art, etc.
     The center will also be a lending library. We will begin by giving Appleseed families lending privileges. There is currently no service of this kind in the Bauleni community. We have been cautioned a number of times that people will not return the books. However, we feel that with training and trust, the community will want this service and will make it work. This is predominately a culture of non-readers simply due to lack of books. No one has access to books in the home. We are very excited to be the first to try a lending library in Bauleni.

      
      While we are excited about the future of Appleseed, we are also sad for the loss of the current school. The change is difficult for everyone; Ken and I, the teachers, but most of all, the students. They are nervous. I think they worry about losing the family feeling that we have at Appleseed. We have assured them that Appleseed is still their place, it will be open more hours and be a place where they can hang out, read, play games and learn after school. Kids in the compound desperately need something to do after school. Currently, the school is locked up at 3:30. We are excited about offering afternoon and evening activities. After this school year (which ends in November) Appleseed will reopen with its new model where we will eventually serve many more people in the Bauleni Compound. 
Our friend, Diego, told us, “The compound is speaking to you, and you are humble enough to listen.”
Diego runs an NGO, In and Out of the Ghetto, and lives in the compound. He has been a wonderful sounding board through some difficult times.
Change: Difficult, Necessary, Transformative, EXCITING!