Local students reach out to Ghana children
Make a Change Africa club raising funds and awareness
Students at John G. Diefenbaker High School are working to help the lives of children in Ghana. Make a Change Africa (MAC Africa) is a new, student-led club at the Calgary school, founded this past spring by Grade 12 students Mariam Awara, Maggie Leng and Boluwatifeh Oyebamiji. “We created MAC Africa because we were all really interested in global issues, we liked the concept and we wanted to make a difference,” says Awara, who co-chairs MAC Africa with Leng and Oyebamiji. “We saw how we could actually have an impact on the issues. We wanted to focus on education, because we think education is the first step to achieving global stability and prosperity.” MAC Africa started after Awara read about the work done by Plan Canada, a nonprofit international development agency seeking to end global poverty and improve the lives of children. They decided to start a club to help support Plan Canada, and asked teacher Cheryl Sceviour for help. MAC Africa, which now has 50 members, wants to raise $10,000 by the end of June for a “Gift of Hope” to build an elementary school in Ghana. The school will have six classrooms equipped for teaching up to 80 students, separate washrooms for boys and girls, and a well. MAC Africa is also raising funds to purchase supplies and equipment, and provide training for teachers in gender equality. The club’s second goal is to raise awareness of the impact of education in breaking the cycle of poverty. MAC Africa is registered under Plan Canada. Plan Canada sponsors will match what’s raised to build the school. MAC Africa has been busy planning a number of fundraising projects, including penny drives, cotton candy sales, T-shirt sales, bake sales and a Snow Angel day before the school’s winter break. School sports teams will help MAC Africa raise funds by shovelling driveways in the neighbourhood. “It’s to encourage school spirit as well, so we’re including the whole school into our fundraising,” Awara says. For more information, visit http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=1682743 “We’d love to have more opportunities within communities to raise more awareness of our club, not just in our school,” Leng adds. “Any other opportunities that someone could provide us, we’d love to have their help and suggestions.”