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News
Educate!
Students Start Their Own Club at Kyangwali
Refugee
Camp
By
William Havemann
In
December, 2005, Educate! was proud to welcome another
club into its ranks, this one slightly different from
all the rest.
Young
men and women living in the Kyan-gwali Refugee Camp
in Uganda founded the Cuburwa Kyangwali Educate!
Refugee Club, an organization aimed at improving
conditions in the refugee camp by raising money to
buy books for students. The club's motto: "Peace,
Love and Unity to Promote Education" is a testament
to the resolve and hope that pervades Educate!'s young
African students, and their commitment to promoting
positive change in their community through education.
So
far, the club has proven astonishingly successful
- raising over $65 in just a few months. This feat
is especially impressive considering that club members
fundraise pri-marily through "diggings",
which require intensive manual labor and pay only
33 cents a day. The leaders of the club have also
drafted a charter, enumerating the objectives of the
club and the challenges that will be faced along the
way.
The
club's three founders are young in-habitants of the
Kyangwali camp seeking to take an active role in eliminating
illiteracy and poverty in their community. Two of
the founders are Educate! students who are now att-ending
secondary school with the help of Educate! grants.
The other, Benson Wajere, is another young member
of the camp so indigent that he himself cannot afford
schooling. Educate! is currently considering his applica-tion
for a sponsorship.
The courage and initiative shown by members of the
Cuburwa Kyangwali Refugee Club are truly astounding
given the challenges they face every day. In a community
riddled with corruption, malnutrition, disease and
poverty, they have united behind a common vision of
a better life.
Perhaps
the founders of the club say it best: "We have
come together to do our level best to […] join
hands with other Educate! Clubs, supporters in America
and the world at large to eradicate illiteracy and
poverty in Africa." Educate! is proud to play
a role in helping these talented students to reclaim
their lives, their community and their continent.
Learn
more about Benson and COBURWAS at http://www.peopleweaver.com/coburwas/index.php,
a site created by an Educate! volunteer.
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