Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: 20 Years of Love

Project Love is celebrating 20 years of  helping Canadians make a difference. Since 1987 CODE, the Canadian international literacy agency that manages Project Love, has shipped more than a 1.5 million Project Love kits of school supplies to students in Africa and the Caribbean.

Project Love was started by  a  committee of CODE volunteers in London, Ontario. The program  now  involves  about  500  schools  across Canada and assists more than 80,000 students and teachers in the developing world each year.

Over the years, Project Love has been adopted by hundreds of thousands of Canadian teachers, who recognize the project and its accompanying curriculum-based educational resources as a unique opportunity for their students to learn about international issues and assist their peers in the developing world.

“Project Love is a very real way for students to get involved,” says one teacher participant. “It brings to light big ideas and helps them realize the importance of education in the development context.”

Project Love is only a small part of what CODE does. While students and teachers are assembling kits in Canada, CODE is working to address the needs of a literate society more broadly through local publishing initiatives and support for the professional development of teachers, librarians, authors, and publishers in developing countries.

“We know education is a powerful weapon against poverty,” says CODE Executive Director Scott Walter. “But to win this battle we also need qualified teachers, school resources, appropriate books and information, and an environment that supports learning.”

CODE works in partnership with local education-based organizations that distribute Project Love to schools. Partners also distribute books, some donated from North American publishers and others published locally, to build library collections in remote communities and schools. Professional support is given to teachers who are often accustomed to teaching with few resources. Project Love kits and the books assist students and further enrich their learning environment.

While Project Love contributes to education in Africa by assisting with the everyday needs of classrooms, it also supports education in Canada. The program is a springboard to a wide range of lessons and activities, and a strong tool for introducing global education issues to young Canadians.

This year Project Love kits – each containing a pencil, an eraser, a ruler, and a notebook – will be sent to  primary school students in Tanzania, where only 69 percent of youth can read or write, and Senegal, where only 39 percent of the population is literate. Resources for education in both these countries are limited, and such school supplies are beyond the means of most families.