Ancramdale makers help Kenyan girls go to school

ANCRAMDALE — Local residents can make a difference halfway around the world by the simple act of purchasing a high quality item hand crafted by retired Webutuck shop teacher John Roccanova of Ancramdale.

Since 2010, when John and his wife Jean began their nonprofit “Grow Against Poverty,” they have been sponsoring multiple efforts to improve the lives of others, mainly in Kenya.

This year, their fund raising efforts will again be funneled partly through “Prevent Period Poverty” which is focused on bringing much needed bathrooms and sanitary supplies to girls. The program has already built a $11,000 bathroom in one school with four sinks, toilets and showers, which has already helped improve attendance.

Using money from this year’s sales, he says they are aiming at adding another bathroom to a school of 1,500 students and over 60 staff members which currently has only 2 bathrooms for the whole school.

“A lot of what we do is geared to female students because they get the short end too many times,” Roccanova said.

He adds that improving education for girls “reduces teen pregnancies, increases graduation rates and helps them get themselves and their families out of poverty.”

Inspired initially by a newspaper article on African relief needs, which tapped into their desire to improve education, their efforts have contributed to expanded classroom space, paid for computers, and helped supply funds for teacher salaries.

By providing bicycles with helmets, repair kits and safety vests to twelve schools for 510 students who must navigate more than five miles of often muddy, rutted roads, they have also boosted school attendance and have plans to expand the program with another 100 bicycles each year.

Their program has also helped plant gardens which supply fresh produce for the school and have expanded that to a “Carrots for Computers” program which uses profits from sales of vegetables to purchase more units.

He notes the November sale will feature salad bowls, “platters, tea boxes, candleholders, cutting and charcuterie boards, earrings, pens ... cars, trucks, helicopters, planes and several types of boats” suitable for bathtubs.

The items, all made with food and child safe finishes, are crafted from walnut, oak, cherry, maple, poplar, pine and mahogany with prices ranging from $10 to $150.

The sale is set for the Irondale Schoolhouse from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, Nov. 9 and 10, Nov. 16 and 17, Nov. 23 and 24, Nov. 29 and 30 and Sunday, Dec. 1.