School's International Committee Helps Refugees
One criticism that is frequently leveled at the United States, is that there is often a lack of engagement by policy makers and the public in what happens outside its borders. Yet the efforts of one school in Colorado who are working hard to raise awareness of refugee issues show that the reality is actually more complex than this.
Werner Elementary School in Fort Collins, a city which lies about 65 miles north of Denver, last year began a communications exchange with a village in Northern Uganda.
Guided by the school's International Committee, pupils have been involved in a number of projects including sending letters and books to Uganda, and holding a garage sale to raise the money for a solar oven for the community.
David Monahan, whose daughter is a pupil at Werner and who co-chairs the Committee, says that the program has developed from a 'Roots and Shoots' organisation which the school began last year. The school has also sent disposable cameras for young people in Uganda to record their daily lives (These pictures from Uganda are viewable online at http://home.comcast.net/~rdmonahan/)
'My family went to see Jane Goodall when she visited Denver, which is how we got started in Roots and Shoots (R&S),' says David. Roots and Shoots was founded by Dr. Goodall to encourage greater youth participation in community service and raise awareness of environmental issues. 'We were looking for an African group to communicate with and R&S put us in touch with Marc [Schaeffer, RESPECT International President]. I've been communicating with him regularly by e-mail and have to say he's been a real inspiration for both myself and the Werner community.'
David says that this is the first such organisation he has been involved with, but that he has found the support of other parents and teachers extraordinarily helpful. 'We have a cadre of about twenty families, and teachers who make up the strongest element, while the children have also been instrumental in writing letters and arranging a fund raiser we had.'
The school is currently exploring ways to develop an ongoing fund to be managed by students, parents, and teachers that will provide support initially just to Uganda, but with a view to branching out to more communities as those involved develop the necessary skills and money.
'I find it fulfilling at times, joyful when we are able to provide help, frustrating when seemingly hitting brick walls... and overwhelming and disheartening when I look at the life these people have to live,' says David of his work.
Raising money is a particular challenge, as is the difficulty of overcoming the obvious problems posed by communicating with communities in a part of the world wracked by violence and war.
But David believes that being able to give something to refugee communities makes it all worthwhile:
'For the moment, we aim to provide the community with assistance and support so that they don't lose hope and educational opportunities,' he says. '[But] our ultimate hope is that there is peace and that the families can move back to their villages and farms.'