CITY SCHOOL STUDENTS RAISE $7,000 FOR AFRICAN ORPHANS
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed today said that an enterprising group of students from the Harrisburg School District, working in partnership with students from Messiah College, this year raised more than $7,000 for an international organization that rescues abandoned babies in Kenya.
Reed said the "Amani Project," as it is called, based on the name of the foundation that facilitates the donation, involved seven students from the Midtown Learning Center (MLC), including Janay Carelock, Chanisha Fletcher, Keryn Jeffries, Saheed Miller, Shyrell Pollard, Chayla Waller, and Jamisha White, and four students from the Alternative Education Program at the William Penn Campus, including Kiesha Johnson, Serena Martin, Bernisha White, and Ashly Wise.
The students created jewelry from ceramic beads made in Kenya known as "Kazuri" beads. The beads were seconds obtained at no cost from the manufacturer in Nairobi, Kenya. Students then offered more than 500 necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for sale throughout the year at events at Messiah College, through area churches and at home parties, at prices ranging from $10 to $45.
Reed said the proceeds from the sale have been donated to New Life Homes, a best-practice group of infant rescue centers across Kenya that cares for babies orphaned by poverty and HIV/AIDS. Along with funds raised last year, the total donated to New Life Homes has now surpassed $10,000. Every $1,000 raised makes one year of care for an orphan possible. The first names of the children "adopted" by the Harrisburg students are Addie, Winston, Faith, Archie, Able, Kip and Ann.
Participating students progressed from apprentice to guild craftsmen through this program, and also received credit in a number of other areas for the work associated with the project, such as marketing, business math, and social studies. According to Messiah College Professor Jean Corey, "Students learned about Kenya, the global AIDS crisis, design and marketing, entrepreneurship, the satisfaction of work well done, and most importantly, about our interconnection with one another. In short, they’ve been engaged in learning that makes a difference locally and globally."
According to Louise Morgan, the Harrisburg School District teacher who is the advisor to this project, the Radius Gallery, the Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC)-operated gallery housed in the Pennsylvania State Museum that offers crafts created by Pennsylvania craftsmen, has agreed to offer the Amani jewelry for sale, and if grant applications currently in process are successful next year, students who have met the "guild" level of craftsmanship will be compensated.
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