Web Page Development by Stella Dalsto Email: sdalsto@gmail.com
Shirley Case School Project
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Shirley Case
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30 years old
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Female
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Born Oct 04, 1977
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Died Aug 13, 2008
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108 Mile Ranch, British Columbia, Canada
(Daughter to Alec & Deb Case; niece to Gord & Shirley Sorrell)
Why Nicararagua?
Jessica Chaikowsky, Shirley's friend who actually spearheaded the project, researched for a reputable humanitarian organization. She found Tom Affleck, who is the founder of SchoolBox, which is a "not for profit" organization, committed to supporting the right of every child to a basic education.
Tom Affleck was in Nicaragua, and gave a little girl a pencil and a note book. Her father smiled broadly when he saw this, and said " Now you can go to school"....
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The fund raising for the Shirley Case School began in July 2010, less than a year ago. We have raised, more than the $30,000.00 needed to build a 3 room school. The basic school will be complimented with washrooms, a fully stocked library, and a playing field. There are also enough funds to build a water system for the community, which at the present time, uses a horse to draw up large buckets of water. Walking in a circle, it takes the equivalent of 2 city blocks, to fill a barrel. 30 minutes of walking fills the barrel. They then sell the water in 3 communities, for about 55 cents a barrel, or deliver it for 90 cents, using a man with a cart, and 2 bulls! This is the water source for the construction of the Shirley Case school!
Puts a new perspective on our morning showers, doesn't it?
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We have had many people donate to this cause, both Canadians and Americans. There have been golf tournaments, Calendar Sales, a large auction in Toronto, put on by Jessica, called "Things I've been meaning to do"....The name of which came from one of Shirley's mantras -"Don't put off til tomorrow, what you can do today"!
And in Blythe...the raffle for the quilts, and the cookbook donation.
The quilt raffle. Quilts made be Sharon Davidson
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Winner Donna Orriss
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April 2011 - Construction of the ‘Shirley Case School’ begins
Friends and family of Shirley Case have joined SchoolBOX staff in Nicaragua to
begin the construction of an amazing new school in her honour. The Shirley Case
School will be built in Monte Olivo, North West Nicaragua. Shirley’s school will have
3 classrooms and a multi-purpose room.
Shirley Sorrell's trip summary
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The trip was truly an amazing experience. We all worked really hard, it was like going back 40 years.
Everything was done manually from carrying water on our shoulders to digging trenches with a pick and shovel. It was very hot 100 plus everyday so we were continually drinking water. Luckily Schoolbox had a good supply of purified water on site for us.
The children were terrific, they were not afraid to pitch in and give us a hand with whatever chore we were doing. They worked very hard and were always smiling. The parents also worked very hard along with us, the mother's joined in when we played games with the kids and we had lots of laughs.
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I can not say enough about Schoolbox, they really took our safety and well being to heart. They never left us alone, we always felt very safe. Our accommodations were great and the food was good. They were all so kind and thoughtful, very special people. I think we all went away with a real good feeling about where our donated money went. Schoolbox is truly dedicated to improving the education for children in Nicaragua.
We all felt really proud to be there and to honor Shirley in that way was a dream come true. We felt her presence each and every day. It was an experience of a life time and I would recommend it to anyone who has ever thought of doing volunteer work to contact Schoolbox.
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