@itsDuncan That‘s the education section on the forum and it works very well. The teachers gather students‘ postcards/letters and write to the teacher’s home addresses or their school addresses - both works fine. They do not „count“ for PC, but that‘s no big deal… 
I‘d be interested to have a postcard/letter exchange between a (South) African class and my own.
I got one from Timbuktu through that website mentioned and also one from Botswana via here:
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How wonderful, baobabs are my favourite trees! 
As a part of his upcoming birthday celebration, my son (will be 11 soon) donated to all 3 projects. It’s our tradition to give part of our present money to those who need it much more.
Thanks for links.
Love from Latvia
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I received wonderful cards today from Ghana. And they were send 2 august. That is so fast! Faster then some EU countries
I hope the small donation helps them 
knowing how some people live, makes some of your own problems look less important
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Here’s 3 fabulous postcards I just received from Botswana - they took a little over 3 months to arrive - I’m so excited to receive them.
You can order them from this site in Botswana for a reasonable fee
https://yourbotswana.com/postcards/
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They are so beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you all for the great links!
A couple of days ago I received the cards I ordered from Ghana. They took about three weeks to get here (and funnily enough didn’t arrive on the same day) and they’re really pretty!
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First of all: Thanks for the links!!!
Second: I really do understand the po’s question but we somehow forget that a hobby such as postcrossing is mere luxury to many people!
Sorry, if I sound harsh, etc. but most of us are so pampered in their way of life that we forget that our point of view in life is not the only one. It’s the (male) (no offense, guys!) Western gaze. And I feel like a stupid spectator that’s on the lookout for rare species. Gives me a bad feeling somehow. It’s a bit similar to the Hunger Games: While the people in the capitol are bored to death with their luxury and stupidity, the people in the districts really have to fight for surviving.
Next to monetary aspects, there are also political ones. Some countries face war, or are in the middle of “restructuring” (sorry, I’m lacking better vocabulary), unfortunately. 
Postcrossing is the very last thing that comes up in your mind then.
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rare country to rare country 
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Update! My Botswana card just arrived! It took almost 5 months 
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I worked in Benin, West Africa for four months as an agriculture extension consultant. Mail took a month to arrive to me and my correspondents in the USA. My company received mail at a PO Box in the largest city, Cotonou. I had to go out of my way to find an Internet cafe, but that was 20 years ago. I know they’ve come a long way since then.
My impressions of this country are different than the ideas shared by some in the forum. I worked with middle class professionals who had college degrees, private cars, and connections with multi-national corporations on other continents. In short, there are plenty of citizens in different levels of society.
Still, Postcrossing can be an expensive hobby even for G20 country participants. Postal logistics, reliability, and time are factors. Does Postcrossing advertise in places where residents of the 55+ African countries might see them? I just joined a year ago after I read about Postcrossing in a niche writing magazine. I’d never heard/seen it online even though I enjoy writing letters and postcards.
Perhaps part of the challenge is making people who focus on a paper/analog hobby become aware of the digital Postcrossing platform to connect them to a wider community.
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Here’s a recent news article that highlights how technology is lending a hand to improving postal reliability in Kenya and beyond:
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Yes, absolutely there is a middle class in many African countries, but the definition of it income wise is often still quite different compared to G20 countries.
Pretty sure Postcrossing doesn’t have the money to advertise - the vast majority of members use it’s free service & don’t donate to support the project. Even in the Forum with over 30,704 members - probably the most active members of Postcrossing, out of the total 805,000+ - only 2394 members have supported the project.
Happy to see evolution & improvements to postal systems there, another challenge for sure.
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Thank you so much to think about Africa. Some times, its about creating an impact in the lives of other people.
I know what it means when you talk about Africa, I grew up from here. I am a Ugandan.
Whenever I receive a card, it puts joy in to my eyes. I don’t know whether the people who receive from me also love our cards.
I also run a project and its not easy, it’s just God who keeps you pushing. Thank you LC for sharing that story.
My project is here
www.ebenezerwelfare.org
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Hi Lynn,
Thank you so much for sharing the story of our school building project (Prince & Princess F. Academy Project) to so many people around the world.
We are most grateful to everyone here supporting the project in Ghana.
The project was started in late 2013 and the school was finally opened on 18th January, 2021. Currently, we have 95 students from Crèche to basic 1. We are working hard to construct more classrooms to enroll more students.
Many people didn’t believe the project will be successful but now it is becoming an amazing school for teaching and learning.
Many thanks to one of our co-founders who donated the piece of land for the construction of the school. He passed away this year on 9th April, 2021. We know he is smiling at us from Heaven.
Our doors are open to anyone who wish to visit the school.
We hope you will continue to support the Prince and Princess F. Academy in Tamale, Ghana, west Africa.
Thank you.
Prince Sisu Haruna,
Co-founder.
Prince and Princess F. Academy Project.
www.facebook.com/dotsiisu
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How do you know this? Is there statistics somewhere?
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Thank you! Indeed, what a low number. 
I usually renew my Postcrossing badge once a year because, come on if I can afford postcrossing, I can afford supporting this amazing project. Sure everyone doesn’t want to do that whatever reason it may be and it’s fine by me.
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