Horsham's Angela Rudolph aims to build school in Laos

At the tender age of nine, she is trying to raise $30,000 before she turns 11 to build a school for children less fortunate.

At Easter, Angela and her mum Pauline learned about Pencils of Promise – an organisation that provides education to developing countries – and decided to get involved.

Pencils of Promise works in Laos, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ghana to build schools, train teachers and support students.

Angela said she wanted to help people, and building a school appealed to her.

‘‘My favourite subjects are maths, writing and reading,’’ she said.

‘‘Writing is important in life and some people in different countries don’t get to do that.’’

Angela hopes to raise enough money to build a school in Laos. She hopes the money she raises will cover the structure, desks, learning materials and teachers.

‘‘Laos is close to China and I really like those countries,’’ she said.

Angela learns Mandarin at Horsham’s Holy Trinity Lutheran School.

She said she wanted to show people young people could do just as much as their older counterparts.

‘‘You can do big things and still be small,’’ she said.

‘‘Even if you’re a little preppy, you can do great things.’’

Angela said she and and her mum had organised a yoga event for July and hoped to host a range of other events including an auction, garage sales, barbecues and school discos.

‘‘We’re not going to just one place – we’re going to try to do things at others schools and shops too,’’ she said.

Angela turns 11 on August 20 next year.

She said she hoped the community would support her project to help her reach her goal by then.

‘‘Some people think it’s a lot of money, but it’s not much because we are a rich country,’’ she said.

Mrs Rudolph said she was proud of what her daughter wanted to do.

‘‘It’s great she cares so much and she’s prepared to do the hard work,’’ she said.

‘‘What she’s doing is a life-changing thing.’’

Angela said people could like the ‘Angela’s Pencils of Promise’ Facebook page to keep up to date with fundraising events and visit www.stayclassy.org/angela10club to donate.