North American Kids Reach Out to Kids in Africa

When 13-year-old Candace Francis found out that four classes of kids at a school in Uganda had to share a single textbook, she says her first reaction was how unfair that is.

“We thought it wasn’t fair how we have all this stuff,” said Candace, an eighth-grade student at Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School in Courtice, Ontario, Canada, in an interview with the Durham Region News, her local newspaper.

The girls at Mother Teresa also found out that Ugandan kids often have to sit on the floor at school, in buildings with no electricity and few school supplies.

“If I can’t find my pencil, I ask (my teacher) for a new one,” Candace told reporter Jennifer O’Meara.  “They don’t even have that.”

Candace and her classmates decided to do something to help the kids in Uganda.

They decided to make and sell bracelets as a fundraiser.

“Our goal was to get everyone in (our) school wearing one,” 13-year-old Emma Milan told O’Meara.

By late last month, the girls at Mother Teresa had raised at least $900 – money that’ll pay for a lot of textbooks.

“I’m so glad we’re making a difference,” eighth-grader Alexandria Solorzano-Caruso told O’Meara.

Why Uganda?

It’s one of the poorest nations in Africa and the entire world.

And the girls’ teacher, Nicole Gibson, reportedly spent her summer vacation teaching there last year.

“I’ve been in touch with the (Ugandan) school,” Gibson told O’Meara.  “And they’re very excited.”

A lot of times, Ugandan families can’t afford to send their kids to school because they don’t have the money to pay for it.

In Grand Blanc, Michigan, kids at Brendel Elementary School got in touch with an organization that helps third-world families buy farm animals – animals whose milk the families can sell to make money.

With the help of their teacher, the kids at Brendel set up a marketplace at their school.

And they reportedly raised more than $1,000 for the organization.

The Brendel kids sold things such as bookmarks, baked goods, even paper airplanes – most of it homemade.

“It makes me really proud,” said 9-year-old Brendel student Lauren Ruzylo, in an interview with the Flint Journal newspaper.  “Because we’re putting forth all this work to help somebody who really needs it.”

And in Hackensack, New Jersey, kids at Fairmount School have reportedly been selling beaded jewelry and other products made in Uganda, to raise money for a group that helps Ugandan women climb out of poverty.

“This builds international understanding,” Fairmount principal Joseph Cicchelli told the Hackensack Chronicle, when asked about the reasons behind the project.

Sixth-grader Bianca Myrie also understands why it’s important to help people who are less fortunate.

“If you’re happy with your life, why not make somebody else’s life better,” she told the Chronicle.  “We should all try to do that – especially right now.”