It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential. That’s why we start every Top 10 Wish List with school-wide security measures where needed: fencing, gates, alarms, cameras, and more. Thus far, we have funded security systems at all five schools with which we’ve partnered.

How did we learn about their importance? Way back in 2011, at the very first school we ever supported, we asked Vusumzi Primary School administrators, educators, parents, and students for their top wishes, and we could not wait to hear #1. We were seated in front of the entire faculty, notebooks-in-hand, ready for the big news, when an educator said, “Number one on our lists is a new fence.” “What?” “A fence. A new and proper perimeter fence.”

Granted, the old fence was disgraceful, but we could not believe that of all the options - playgrounds, electricity, computers, clean water - they wanted a fence. Why? While a fence had obvious aesthetic advantages, it also sent a message that the school was “safe for children.”

“But what about [insert literally anything else]?”
”No. We need to start with a fence.”

And so we did. They knew better, of course, and that is how the Top 10 Wish List was born. Ask questions. Listen. Clarify, when necessary. Believe. Respect. Be mutually accountable. Carry on.