Supporting Waldorf around the world
The Friends of Rudolf Steiner Education and other foundations and organizations have been helping Waldorf institutions whose existence is under threat as a result of the lockdown.
Because of the closures – in some countries long-term – and because some parents have to work reduced hours or have even lost their jobs, payments of school fees have become uncertain or have even ceased (Anthroposophy Worldwide 6/2020). This is why, inspired by the Friends of Rudolf Steiner Education, organizations such as Waldorf 100, the International Forum for Steiner/Waldorf Education, the Mahle Foundation, Stiftung Evidenz, Waldorf Stiftung, Iona Stichting and the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education (iaswece) have agreed Corona support measures that will help those Waldorf kindergartens and schools to survive that receive no state support and depend entirely on parental fees.
By 17 June, following an appeal for donations, more than € 231,000 had been received from private donors and € 130,000 from partners within the initiative. More than € 344,000 of this were made available to Waldorf institutions in Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Chile, Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru and Tanzania to help them with paying rent and salaries. In addition, the alliance helped schools and social institutions, for instance in Brazil, Columbia and Ethiopia, to provide food for families.
The work does not end there, however: schools and kindergartens around the world have registered their needs: the total sum needed amounts to € 824,000 and more applications are expected once all the problems caused by the Corona crisis have come to light.