Students raise awareness, money
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POLSON — A high school assignment involving heifers might sound more like a Future Farmers of America project than an English assignment.
However, seniors Jordan Hinshaw and Rebecca Lake decided on Heifer International when they accepted English teacher Michael Schwabenbauer’s challenge to find an activism project that’s not really well known.
In an e-mail, Schwabenbauer said, “Essentially, I’m asking everyone to pick a group of people who are largely marginalized or ignored by the mainstream media, and give them a voice by raising awareness about them, whether it happens to be homeless veterans, child soldiers, people who work in sweatshops, etc. Students can do various things to convey what they learn to others, whether via art or a fundraiser like Jordan and Rebecca put on.”
The exigency for the project, Schwabenbauer noted, comes from the novel the seniors are currently reading, “What is the What'” by Dave Eggers. The novel is largely the true story about the crisis currently going on in Sudan.
“In some ways this novel and the activism project serves as an opportunity for students to care about something outside of themselves, outside of their community,” Schwabenbauer explained.
After finishing the novel, Schwabenbauer and the senior English class plans a class-wide dinner and silent auction to benefit the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, which is striving to build a state-of-the-art school in Marial Bai, Sudan. Tentatively the event is planned for the end of March.
The Sudan and other countries benefit from Heifer International; the website at www.heifer.org says, “Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.
“By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.”
“With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as 'living loans' because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.”
Jordan wanted to raise awareness for Heifer International, and Rebecca liked the idea of a sustainable source of income and food for families in low-income areas and third-world countries.
“It wasn’t like sending a bag of rice — when the rice is gone, it’s gone,” Rebecca explained.
“Families could milk their cow and sell the milk for money. Then when the cow has a calf, they could give it to another villager.”
As their first fundraiser for Heifer International, Jordan and Rebecca hosted a spaghetti feed in the PHS commons on Jan. 18. For $5 a person or $15 per family, diners got spaghetti and sauce, salad and homemade cookies and brownies for dessert.
Unfortunately, spaghetti on the school lunch menu on Jan. 18, an away wrestling match and a home boys basketball game all contributed to a smaller turnout. The girls were able to cover their costs but raised little money.
Both girls have been involved in community service, and this project combines activism, community service and school credit.
So, they're planning more fundraisers because they would like to raise $1,500, enough to buy two sheep, four goats, a heifer and two llamas through Heifer International. Though the school project will end after third quarter, Rebecca and Jordan's contribution will last much longer.
