‘Community kindness’: Wings of Hope for Africa distributes 100 backpacks to children in need

A Calgary-based foundation handed out a hundred backpacks stuffed with school supplies Saturday.

Wings of Hope for Africa Foundation founder Aline Gahiza said there was plenty of demand for the initiative, which started in Burundi and Rwanda in 2012 before it was launched in Canada in 2023.

Community partners help identify children in need, who each receive a backpack filled with pencils, notebooks, rulers, calculators and other supplies that set them up to succeed at school, says Gahiza.

“The need is very huge,” Gahiza said. “We could see it during the registration. By that time,  within four hours, it was already booked – so that is how the need is going.

“It is important to be educated, because once you have education, you can have access for the future and become somebody important.”

The event was held at Ghana House, in northeast Calgary, where Ghana Association president Charles Odame-Ankrh described the event as an example of “community kindness” that he said he encountered when he was a newcomer to Canada, studying at the University of Calgary.

“Let them feel that they belong – because moving from one country to another country, you have to make new friends," Odame-Ankrh said.

“And this is the beginning of a long-time friendship among the kids,” he added. “And also to teach them about the Canadian system. I call this the best example of community kindness because we have donor partners, who donate backpacks and stuff – and this is beautiful.

“I can see the smiles on the faces of the children and there isn’t a higher calling than what we are witnessing today.”

The Saturday event was held at Ghana House in northeast Calgary

Many of the children come from newcomer families, he added, who are primarily from Francophone countries and are struggling to learn English, making the event even more important towards making them feel welcome in a primarily English-speaking part of the country.

“In the moment, they are enjoying the backpacks, they are happy about it," Odame-Ankrh said, "but we are teaching them lifelong lessons: that we are one community, that we belong, that they belong, that they are welcome. This is Canada – and that is the spirit of being Canadian, giving and sharing, the fabric of society.”

With files from CTV's Darren Wright

The event also featured a bouncy castle, barbeque and games for the children to play.