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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Long-Distance Gifts
By Amy K. StewartStudents send books to children in Uganda
NORTH OGDEN -- It's Kwanzaa in May!
Students at Green Acres Elementary School are sending about 600 books to children in Uganda.
The Green Acres students spent the last three weeks collecting books to donate and creating their own books to send.
The northern Ugandan children leave their village homes each night, typically walking six to 10 miles into town. There they sleep in a safe place, such as a shelter, with generally just a blanket for comfort.
This is to avoid the rebel army that kidnaps children and holds them captive or makes them serve as soldiers or slaves.
The donated books are for the "invisible children" in the shelters to read as they prepare for sleep.
Green Acres first-grader Kennedy Barker said she hopes the Ugandan children will read the books "so that they'll have something happy to think about instead of where they are and that their parents are back home."
The project was launched by first-grade teacher Rose Empey. She got the idea from a Web site that tells of the program, called "Books of Hope."
"I hope our students have learned to value what we have here -- to value how lucky we are in our community, in our families, that we're safe and have a lot of opportunities," Empey said.
Monday was a day of celebration at Green Acres, the culmination of the students' project.
The entire school was decorated like a jungle. Wooden African masks peered from displays in the school foyer amid palm trees and a grass hut. Students had colored their own paper African masks to line the hallways.
Teachers wore African garb.
"Happy Kwanzaa!" Principal Dave Gerstheimer greeted people who entered the front office.
The school held a book fair Monday during which students could buy one book and get one free. Many students opted to donate their free book to the African children.
"I think it's a great opportunity for the kids to learn there are other children with needs in the world," said parent Melissa White, who helped with the book fair.
In the afternoon, the students were rewarded for their efforts with an assembly. Entertainers from the organization Djembe Direct, from Salt Lake City, jammed on African drums while performers twirled and leaped to tribal rhythms.
The books can also be sent to other places where children need a boost, such as refugee camps, schools, orphanages and hospitals in Africa.
English is the national language in Uganda, which is located in the heart of Africa. It is hoped the books will help the children learn and keep up with their reading skills.
Sixth-grader Mikaela Cloyd said she thinks it's sad the Ugandan children don't have much.
"They have to walk and get water," Mikaela said. "They don't have running water -- which is what everyone uses everyday."
Mikaela says she thinks many kids in America don't appreciate what they have.
"They just want more and more, like iPods and stuff, when kids in Uganda -- all they want is a house and a family, basically, and running water and a school," she said, adding that some rude kids in America joke that it would be nice not to have a school.
For information, go to www.thememoryproject.org.
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