The Lowell Elementary School student council's projects committee is accustomed to taking on a variety of worthy projects. But this year's project ended up being something well out of the ordinary.
Rather than taking on a proposed recycling project, the committee focused on something far from home, choosing instead to raise money for a variety of school and recreational supplies for children in the West African country of Sierra Leone.
The project came about after the students - a group of fourth- and fifth-graders - learned about the country's difficult situation from Lowell physical therapist Cindy Nofziger, who spent time in Sierra Leone in the mid-'80s as a Peace Corps volunteer. The west African nation later suffered through 12 years of a brutal and horrific civil war; when the war ended in 2002, much of civil society, including the educational system, had been rendered nonfunctional.
In 2004, Nofziger made her first trip back to Sierra Leone since her Peace Corps days. She saw firsthand how deep the need was for new schools. She also met countless people who had the passion, if not the financial resources, to rebuild schools from scratch.
"A friend of mine asked me if I could help him build a school in his village that had been destroyed in the war," she said. "How could I not? So we raised the money and the school was built by hand."
Nofziger's initial project has evolved into the nonprofit organization School for Salone - "Salone" is a colloquial pronunciation of Sierra Leone - and has led to building seven schools across the country in very poor, very rural villages.
Nofziger made the students aware of the situation in Sierra Leone and filled them in on what she was doing there. But the choice to contribute to Schools for Salone was entirely theirs. Nofziger was slated to return to Sierra Leone in mid-February, so the Lowell projects committee went to work raising money for school supplies that she could take with her. The project was something the committee pursued with passion and enthusiasm.
"We were deciding between this and recycling," said fifth-grader Anders Peterson. "But we felt that we have this wonderful school here, and we thought it would be great to help kids who didn't have a wonderful school. We could relate to kids our own age not having some of the things we had."
The dire economic situation in Sierra Leone struck a chord with the students. The differences in educational opportunities between the United States and Sierra Leone also made a deep impression.
"We learned that Sierra Leone is the world's poorest country," said Lila Brandt, another fifth-grader. "It was important to help people who really don't have anything."
Money was raised through a book exchange and a coin drive. The latter, in which a jar for spare change was placed in each Lowell classroom, proved particularly successful, with every classroom making contributions. A teacher also donated $100. The drive ran through Feb. 5, just a few days before Nofziger left to return to Sierra Leone.
"It's so important that kids get an education," said Emma Lower, adding that the kids sent pictures of themselves playing in the snow with Nofziger to share examples of life in Seattle. "This was the most important project we did. We were surprised by how much money we raised."
In all, the students in the club raised more than $1,300 for supplies. In Seattle, money was spent on colored markers, pencils, crayons, soccer balls and pumps.
"We learned they really like soccer over there," Brandt said.
In Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, Nofziger bought paper, pens, chalk and text books when she could find them.
Schools for Salone is on a firm footing, with a well-established board of directors and several years of experience creating schools in the country.
"It doesn't take all that much to make a difference there," Nofziger said, adding she makes one trip a year to Sierra Leone. She said there are plans to create two more schools are in the works. "We sponsor teachers, buy supplies, create awareness. And there is tangible progress: We can see the schools being built. It's an honor to help them like this."
Such a sentiment was shared by the members of the Lowell special projects committee.
"I like school and I really like helping other people. It really made me feel good helping these kids," said student Gwen Umbach.
More information is available at www.schoolsforsalone.org.
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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