Idea and successful results

WOW-Day - pupils engage themselves for poor and disadvantaged children in the world. An idea and its success in the past years.

Content
Idea of the WOW-Day
The annual results
Amount of help for the different projects

Idea of the WOW-Day

The idea of WOW-Day was born at a conference of European Waldorf school in 1994. 

At a meeting of the "European Council of Steiner Waldorf Schools" the Norwegian teacher Astrid Bjönnes reported on the tradition of a "Operasjon Dagswerk" – in which pupils at all Norwegian Waldorf schools work on one day to raise money for charitable purposes. Her colleagues were inspired by her report and before they knew it, they had taken on the task of extending this to all the other European countries!

But which projects should be chosen? Nana Göbel of Friends of Waldorf Education suggested the Waldorf school in in Santiago de Chile because they were in need of help at that time. Helmut von Loebell, a Waldorf teacher in Salzburg and a business man in Colombia suggested the Extra Muros Project in Bogota, which he himself had started. Soon there were new projects...

The WOW-Day Working Group to which Friends of Waldorf Education belong maintains contact with the projects and decides about taking on new ones. Astrid Bjönnes presents the list of projects each year to the schools and sends out thank you letters.

The total sum raised goes via Friends of Waldorf Ecuation and the projects receive 100% of the money donated.

In the first few years about 20 schools participated in WOW Day. Today there are almost twice as many more each year - mostly German and Scandinavian schools. In 2003 the first school in the US send in a donation.

In the mean time about 60,000 Euros are donated each year by WOW Day! 

The annual results

calculated in Euros and only including the funds donated via Friends of Waldorf Education. | >> detailed overview of participating schools.

School year   Sum      Schools / German schools

1994/95:   13.940 €      11 /   4
1995/96:   39.942 €      26 / 12
1996/97:   23.977 €      24 /   4
1997/98:   34.144 €      23 /   6
1998/99:   30.877 €      15 /   5
1999/00:   44.911 €      33 / 10
2000/01:   64.975 €      35 / 16
2001/02:   67.301 €      35 / 14
2002/03:   60.341 €      36 / 14
2003/04:   48.690 €      31 / 15
2004/05: 399.440 €    128 / 111 (355.883 € from German schools)
2005/06:   92.374 €      44 / 26
2006/07:   73.810 €      37 / 19
2007/08:   79.562 €      29 / 15
2008/09:   81.496 €      33 / 19
2009/10: 307.884 €    120 / 111 (until 15.02.10)

Sum   1.463.666 €   245 / 154

The greatest experience of WOW Day belongs to the schools in Überlingen/D (13x), Stockholm/S (12x), Filderstadt/D (11x), Lillehammer/N (9x), Vestfold/N (9x), Spänga/S (9x), Ulm/D (8x), Otterberg/D (8x) and York/GB (7x). 

For the first time participated the Waldorf schools in...
2009/10: Berlin-Südost, Bochum, Bonn, Buxtehude, Cuxhaven, Dortmund, Eschwege, Frankfurt/Oder, Freiburg-Rieselfeld, Gera, Hamburg-Nienstedten, Karlsruhe-Parzival, Lensahn, Mannheim (Interkult.WS), Neumünster, Oldenburg, Potsdam, Rendsburg, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Stuttgart-Kräherwald, Thale, Wahlwies, Wernstein, Wöhrden.
2008/09: Göttingen, Greifswald, Hitzacker, Villingen-Schwenningen, Chatou/F.
2007/08: Eckernförde, Erlangen, Schloss Hamborn, Wendelstei, Helsinki/F.
2006/07: Hamburg-Harburg/D, Ismaning/D, Rostock/D, Cittadella/I, Fyresdal/N, Oslo-Nordstrand/N, Warschau/PL und Vac/Hungary;
- thank you very much!

Amount of help for the different projects

At the end of 2008 the following projects have been supported with a total of 847.699 Euro (without Action week Germany 2004):

North and South America

USA, Wolakota, Pine Ridge, Kg (1997-2002) – 16.034 €
BRA, Sao Paulo, Lar Benjamin (1995-2002) – 11.130 €
CHL, Santiago de Chile, WS (1995-96) – 3.440 €
KOL, Bogota, Extra Muros / CES Waldorf (since 1994) – 363.090 €

Africa

SAF, Cape Town, Educare, Centre for Creative Education (since 2002) – 51.596 €
SAF, Khayelitsha, Kg Baphumelele + Nompumelelo (1995-99) – 21.066 €
SAF, Khayelitsha, WS Zenzeleni (2002) – 5.268 €
SAF, Philippi, Kg (1999-2001) – 17.577 €
SIE, Freetown, WS (since 2003) – 64.843 €

Eastern Europe

CRO, Split, Painting school Mirta (1996-98) – 17.696 €
LIT, Kaunas, Chechen orphans (2006-08) – 48.308 €
RUS, St. Petersburg, ART Studio for blind children (2002-08) – 59.165 €

Asia

CHN, Chengdu, Kg+WS (2005-08) – 7.547 €
IND, Hyderabad, Freedom Foundation (since 2006) – 36.172 €
IND, Hyderabad, Samata (since 2006) – 27.637 €
THA, Bankgkok, Child Protection Foundation (1998-2005) – 74.524 €

Special projects of single schools

KEN, Nairobi, WS Mbagathi – 2.550 €
NAM, Windhoek, Kg Katatura – 3.781 €
NAM, Windhoek, WS – 7.318 €
SAF, Hermanus, WS – 2.230 €
TAN, Dar es Salaam, WS Hekima – 1.313 €
GEO, Tiflis, WS – 2.550 €
RUM, Iasi, WS – 1.992 €
VIE, Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Kg – 871 €