Churchville, Elmhurst, Illinois
KIDS HELPING KIDS
Kids Helping Kids is the title of the display case you´ll see as you enter Churchville Middle School this month. The display case features Okello Francis, who wants to continue his education beyond primary school but has no resources to pay the tuition and fees. His wishes have come true! The Churchville Middle School in Elmhurst Illinois is now supporting this young man  with the profits from their healthy snack bar run by the G.T.O. and from F.A.M. [Food Art and Music] Night. This is a great example of kids helping kids. Teacher Joelle Soefker and her team of students who run a snack bar have made it possible for Okello Francis to enter Secondary 1 [the equivalent to our 8th grade year] and continue his dreams. Each of Churchville’s grade levels had an assembly this week to learn about Uganda. Sixth grade students created a beat using African drums and beaded gourds. Some volunteer dancers wearing bark-cloth and others in gathered skirts with jingled bracelets moved to the beat of the percussion. These students were dancing as a way to begin learning about Francis and the Acholi culture of northern Uganda.
Charlie Laliberte, from ChildrenUP, presented highlights of Okello‘s country. He showed the students Uganda´s wildlife including the mountain gorillas from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. He showed the power of the rapids of Murchison Falls at the beginning of the Nile River which is a white water rafting destination for people worldwide.
Winston Churchill called Uganda “the Pearl of Africa” for its breathtaking beauty. Uganda also has its challenges. Education is one of them. Coming from a family of subsistence farmers, Okello Francis cannot continue in school without financial assistance. The students of Churchville Middle School are providing the funds for the three terms of school each year. They are also helping him with the required supplies for the year which include boarding school necessities, a mattress and a trunk box to keep personal belongings. Some schools ask that each student bring a bag of cement. This is a concrete way to build new classrooms!
The Churchville students were shown photos of primary and secondary schools. There were 155 children in one third grade classroom. Some students in secondary schools meet in old tobacco barns for class. At all schools, the instruction is done on a chalkboard where teachers write their lessons and where students copy the information into notebooks. Schools provide one meal a day for the students. A Churchville eighth grader asked what Francis wants to be when he grows up. A seventh grader asked if it is hard for Francis to leave his family to go to boarding school. Another asked what Francis likes to do in his free time. A Churchville sixth grader wondered aloud how often Okello Francis’ classmates go hungry. Another sixth grader asked why the children seem so happy in the photos considering their conditions. The dialog between the students has begun.
Churchville Middle School students are making a difference in Okello Francis´ life. They are connecting to a young man who is their age yet living halfway around the world. As a result of this connection everyone is learning.
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