When Scholars Advancing Learning and Teaching (S.A.L.T.) decided to take on a service project in the fall, they could not think of a better organization to work with than Africa Reads. S.A.L.T., whose mission was to provide opportunities for community service in educational areas, reached out to the children of Rwanda by offering them an invaluable gift: the gift of literacy. "Every student at Harding University can read; it's second nature to us," sophomore Maggie Rothe said. "Our hearts become humble when we realize that the reason we are able to accomplish things-- huge or insignificant-is because of the blessings and opportunities which have been poured out for us. Programs like Africa Reads need people who can share their gifts with those less fortunate." Africa Reads was a non-profit organization promoting English literacy in Rwanda. Professor of education and literary consultant Ken Stamatis founded the organization after a trip to Rwanda in the summer of 2009. "The class had different service projects in mind," Dr. Penny McGiawn said, "but once Ken Stamatis showed the video about Africa Reads, the class as a whole latched onto the idea of helping out." It began when Scholastic donated an abundance of books to the Africa Reads program, but there were not adequate funds to ship them to Rwanda. S.A.L.T. then decided a fundraiser was the best way to raise the money needed for shipping. On Dec. 2 and 3, SALT soldT-shirts designed by junior Nicole Sullenger. "The ultimate goal for raising funds for Africa Reads is to help Row 1: A Grzybowski N_ Rogers. C Robbins. Row 2: ) Duggins. K Vargas. pay shipping costs.for the many books Scholastic had generously donated," junior Monica Mackey said. "The hope is that one day Rwandan teachers will have the resources and ability to send out informed literate students into their society." According to McGiawn, if children had access to these books, they would perform at a higher level academically. "It really hit home when I realized how blessed we are to have books," Mackey said. "Most children in America today have books lying around everywhere, and even babies have books for toys. However, there are people in this world, Rwanda especially, with no access to print and are desperately in need of them to aid in their literacy." Rothe said the S.A.L.T. program's involvement with Africa Reads may have started small, but eventually it developed into something much greater. "Little ideas can turn huge quickly," Rothe said. "It has been amazing to see how much progress has taken place with Africa Reads just within the past year. While, specifically, we sold t-shirts to raise money for the shipping cost of the books, the project spiraled into awareness, and many students became interested in working with the program." S.A.L.T. taught students not only how to help in the classroom, but out in the community and the world as well. "The service projects have reminded me to be thankful for the education that I have, and it reinforces why I want to become a teacher," junior Kelly Gossett said. Kristi Sotol}essica Boyd education 217
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