You wouldn't think such items would make two shakes of difference to anyone. Yet local students - with the help of a Magnolia-based nonprofit organization - are learning that such seemingly negligible goods can wax infinitely valuable for impoverished children in distant countries.
Through the auspices of the "Sister Schools" program, students at Catharine Blaine School currently are collecting usable supplies that will be shipped this spring to school-age kids in northern Uganda. All day Friday, students and volunteers at Blaine participated in a pick-up drive, sorting and loading donated supplies onto a truck.
Sara Olson, assistant executive director of the Sister Schools program, said she's seen an incredible level of enthusiasm from the students involved in the supply drive. "I think it's very empowering for them," Olson said.
Because the kids know where the stuff is going, having seen pictures and slides of Ugandan schools, their effort is more personalized, Olson said.
"It's not just that the children are bringing in things and they don't understand why," she said. "We really want children to bring things that move their heart and soul."
Sister Schools is the brainchild of Magnolia resident Terry McGill. McGill first got the idea of creating an international program to help needy kids after a 1988 trip to Uganda, where he witnessed first-hand the extremes of poverty and hardship suffered by the people there.
After McGill returned from this trip, some of his friends who taught in Seattle schools invited him to share his experiences, which included photos depicting Ugandan school life.
Amazed at the response of the students to his accounts, McGill began organizing supply drives through local schools, believing that student-to-student giving would be a powerful way to improve the lives of those overseas while providing valuable educational experiences to the kids at home.
To date, McGill's program has facilitated the shipment of more than 200,000 pounds of supplies being shipped to students in Uganda.
Sister Schools partnership with Blaine started back in September, when McGill and Olson facilitated nine 45-minute sessions over the course of two days - one session per grade level, with presentations tailored to suit the given age of the students.
The presentations featured a basic explanation of the program, a slide show and a question-and-answer period. The idea is for the students to forge a personal connection to their counterparts in Uganda; in the past, some kids have even generated pen-pal relationships with the African students they're sponsoring.
Olson said the sheer emotional involvement of Blaine students has been a wonder to behold. "It hits them hard, and that's the plan," she said of the slide presentation. "The juxtaposition in culture is so very different. The plan is to have them reach within and say to themselves, 'My gosh, if I can make the difference to a child half the way across the world...'
"It's the beginning," she added. "It's planting a seed to teach children that their vote counts. That's what we feel that we are - we're a model."
Although the Sister Schools program is now quite bare-bones - essentially, McGill and Olson run the show - they plan on kicking things into high gear in the near future. Eventually, Olson said, the idea is to initiate projects across the state, with students reaching out to other students in places around the world.
"This year we're really trying to get up and going on a whole new level," she said. "We're building on getting a board of directors up and running. We want to expand to other countries, and move out of state with a fundraiser."
Olson said one of the most satisfying things is how the program goes "full circle," meaning the students are involved in the process from inception to delivery until they ultimately see the fruits of their labor with a final slide presentation showing their goods being delivered.
Ugandan schools involved in the program have also met their sponsors half way. Many teachers in African villages, with the urging of McGill, have single-handedly renovated their classrooms and generally improved conditions for their students. One school teacher had a new roof built in order to receive donations.
"There's been a wonderful trickle-down effect," Olson said.
So far, Sister Schools is working with 12 local schools including Blaine. Another pick-up Friday is scheduled for Nov. 14, at Magnolia Community Center, shortly after which the goods will be placed in a huge container and shipped out to Uganda mid-December.
The 20-foot container takes over two months to arrive in northern Uganda. "We don't have enough manpower to be able to do more than that," Olson said.
Basically, Olson and McGill are swamped right now - working through the holidays until they see their bounty leave for its faraway destination. "We've got pick-ups for all through October and November and the first part of December," Olson said. "Between slide shows and pick-up dates, we just get full really quick."
She described the dedicated core of workers involved in this effort as "kind of a one-man band with a small circle of nearest and dearest," adding that Sister Schools can always use more help.
Not that Olson is complaining; her voice, when discussing the merits of Sister Schools, absolutely rings with excitement.
