Pulished Thursday, June 19, 2008 in Montreal Gazette...
Good use of a poor
waste
The
school year has ended and I just can’t wait to see if my ex-student will get on
Oprah Winfrey this year, or next.
Two
weeks ago, Stephanie Jonah, who I taught a few years back, showed up at my door
with a simple plan that involves me, you, any and all schools, Oprah Winfrey
and Africa.
She
never outright mentioned Oprah, but…
This
wonderful eighteen year old, ever proud of her deep roots and rich Ghanaian
heritage, has teamed with her older sister, Beatrice, in order to try and make a
little difference in a big way.
I
always say go big or go home, and this initiative sums up that mantra in a
large way.
“I
have always wanted to make a difference,” Stephanie told me in a recent
telephone interview. “But I have often
felt limited and helpless to do much. My sisters and I, living both in Canada and Ghana, have always done what we could, donating old games or
toys to help needy children. But that
only got us so far.
“At
this point, being still young, I don’t have money enough to donate what I’d
like. Still, I remember at the end of a
school year, my friends and I would throw out most of our school supplies. I bet this is still happening.
“I
thought, why not put these wasted supplies to good use?”
So,
Stephanie embarked upon her quest to recruit some schools to assist her in this
effort. Trouble is, this time of year,
ironically, schools are so busy and everyone is so worn out, that they are not
the Mecca for supporting new initiatives, regardless of their potential
or brilliance.
By
the time I met with this dynamic young lady, she already felt a little
defeated.
“I
have gone to three high schools,” she told me, “and all three gave me the same
sort of reply. From: ‘Well, we have already done what we can do
this year for Africa’ to ‘Well, we keep our supplies for our own students with
needs’; even though these are valid and fair excuses, I still feel a little
down.”
Sure
Ghana, a little further east of the Beaconsfield mall, may seem beyond our
immediate concern and maybe we feel inundated by the throes of those in pain
and need on our very street, but this does not have to be the point.
The
point is not why should I help this person or that rather the point is: why should
I not?
People
act like they care. They cry at the
movies and want to, for a few fleeting seconds, pool those tears into a river
of action. And yet, it is the rare few
who actually ride a wave of doing anything at all.
When
someone comes up with an effort that really doesn’t cost a whole lot in time,
energy or dollars, the cynicism and indifference of the ‘actors’ can do
significant damage to the spirit of those ‘Stephanies’ who could make a
difference.
I
want to support my ex-student in this, and yes, I also want her to be on Oprah
for this is a damn good idea!
What
Stephanie Jonah proposes is simple. As
schools shut down, instead of wastefully ditching binders, duo-tangs, dividers,
old dictionaries, paper, pens, pencils, erasers or whatever into garbage bins
-- give them to her.
She
will collect as many supplies as she can garner and send them to Africa. Her sister, Beatrice, living in Accra the capital of Ghana, is expecting the first shipment in July. And schools have already been lined up, and
are soon to line up.
So,
before bolting out to the summer pool, soccer field, or for vacation fun, do
some organizing. Take a look at all the dividers and unused loose-leaf paper;
the binders that can be reused; the pencil cases, and organize now, for next
year, for yourselves.
Anything
extra, or unwanted – Stephanie will take it.
Our
English department at John Rennie, in order to support the Jonah sisters, is equally
simple. It takes each teacher about 5
minutes out of their lives.
The
grade 11 final provincial exam was delivered with answer booklets for the
students to respond in. These booklets are
twenty pages of lined paper each. Students
use on average about ten of these pages.
Each student was given three booklets to use.
That’s
ten blank pages in each booklet at the end of the exam; or thirty sheets of
lined paper per student. With three
hundred students that’s three thousand pages – not bad.
We
are simply collecting that paper for her and in the end, that might make a
pretty good start.
Will
it get her on Oprah? We’ll see.
If
you’d like to support Stephanie in any way, please contact her at: students.helping.students@hotmail.com
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