Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
—Aristotle
When my brother, Ozii, and I were in college at The University of Texas (and on financial aid no less), we decided to establish a scholarship program for college students in Africa. The idea seemed far-fetched at the time, how can students who were struggling to pay their own school fees set up a scholarship program to help students in another side of the world deal with school expenses?
We championed ahead, even in the midst of criticism. The principle we understood was that it is better to give than to receive. Moreover, based on our own experiences as students, we believed we were uniquely qualified to create a scholarship program that targeted the true needs of students.
Giving back is living life. The sense that you have to wait for a good time in your life to help others is nonsense. There are so many ways to give back and in many ways that’s how to live life.
The students spotlighted below have demonstrated creative ways to give back:
1. Feeding Nations through Education – a student at California State University, Chico (United States) created this program with the goal of reducing famine and increasing literacy in the West African villages of the country of Burkina Faso. The program gives villagers bulls, plows, and training in sustainable agriculture so that they can grow enough food to feed their families and sell a surplus; the money they receive from sales of the surplus is then applied to fund their children’s education. See here for additional information.
2. Little Dresses for Africa – students at Derby Middle School in Oakland County, Michigan (United States) participated in a project where they created dresses out of pillowcases they brought from their homes. The students got to style the dresses in innovative ways based on new skills they had learned from a fashion engineering class at the school. The dresses were then distributed to orphanages in Africa to provide relief to the orphans and “to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy”. See here for additional information.
3. Feed Karns Project – students at Karns High School in Knox County, Tennessee (United States) came up with a smart business assignment to feed children on two different continents. They joined forces with the Beads of Hope project to sell necklaces, bracelets, and earrings of colorful beads made by women in the East African country of Uganda. 50% of the proceeds received from the sales is sent to Africa so the beaders can feed their children; and the other 50% goes to a Food for Kids program at the school to give students whose families have very low incomes food to take home on the weekends. See here for additional information.
4. Books for Africa – students at Southeast High School in Bradenton, Florida (United States) set up a program that collected and organized more than 600 books to send to Africa. The program was part of a larger effort by the Books for Africa organization which has the mission to “end book famine in Africa”. See here for additional information.
5. Giving Back(Packs) to Africa – students at Foothills Composite High School in Alberta (Canada) put together a project to send school supplies, including backpacks, to Africa. The Foothills Comp students activated several fundraising efforts, like a Halloween Haunted House fundraiser and a student play, to raise money for the supplies. Notably, the students overcame some challenges and were able to focus their efforts on a select number of orphans for maximum positive impact. See here for additional information.
