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Plea for help a world away sparks local effort
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Published: October 1, 2009
Buying a used appliance at a community flea market on Oct. 10 in Mooresville could help educate young girls in Nepal.
Lynne Wiggins, co-owner of Ahlara International, felt moved to do something after traveling to Nepal and hearing firsthand about the educational struggles families face there.
"Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and the literacy rate is under 50 percent," she said. "Parents usually send their children to school until about age 7 or 8 and then, because it's so expensive, they pull the girls out of school and only continue educating the boys."
Wiggins has always been committed to education in other countries, and about eight years ago, she helped raise money to re-build a school in Tibet by installing windows, helping to get clean water and fixing a leaky roof, among other repairs.
"I was visiting Nepal and the driver I was using while abroad heard from the travel agent that I had fixed the Tibetan school," Wiggins said. "He asked if I could help find the money to educate his daughter, who was making straight As but had to be pulled out of school because it was pricey."
She said it costs $350 a year to educate a child, including books, supplies and tuition. The school the sale will benefit has 12 female students, and the goal is to raise at least $700 to fund two of them.
Even a small amount of money can have a big impact, Wiggins said.
"Especially in impoverished countries, they have trouble eating and finding work and tend to gravitate towards people who can help them, which end up being the terrorist groups," she said. "Terrorists offer them money and food and ask for their allegiance in return. By educating the girls of Nepal, they can in turn teach their children to read and write and be informed of what's going on in the world."
To raise funds at the Oct. 10 event, Ahlara is pairing up with the Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber's Business Resource Group to sell new to gently used household items, kitchen gadgets, jewelry, appliances, home accessories, books, toys, crafts to sports memorabilia, collectibles and more.
Ten percent of the proceeds raised at the flea market will benefit the school, Wiggins said.
Wiggins said they will also selling raffle tickets for $5 to benefit the school. The prize would be a $25, $50 or $100 gift card to Ahlara or the D'Lynne boutique, Lynne's clothing and jewelry store within the spa.
"I hope that people in the community donate or participate in some way because most Americans have no idea how lucky they are," she said. "Going to a third-world country is life-changing and you will see how blessed you are when you witness people with no clean water or electricity and they can barely eat. It's also amazing to see how people can get by with so much less and still see that they can be happy."
TO LEARN MORE:
The flea market will be on Saturday, Oct. 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ahlara International, 155 Joe Knox Avenue, across from the Lowe's YMCA in Morrison Plantation. For more information, call 704-662-0946 or e-mail ahlarainternational@yahoo.com.
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