PORTAGE — Portage Northern High School’s Be There/Interact and Student Senate groups will organize the fourth annual schoolwide $2-for-Tuleeni fundraiser during the week of April 25.Tuleeni, which means “care for us” in Swahili, is an orphanage in rural Rau, Tanzania. In the summer of 2007, P-Northern graduate Josh Kieser traveled to the orphanage with an international volunteer organization called Cross-Cultural Solutions. He spent a month with the children and returned to the United States wanting to help.
Getting attached: 2007 Portage Northern graduate Josh Kieser works with children at the Tuleeni orphanage.
A primary school in Tanzania is free, but families must pay for students to earn a secondary education. So for those in Tuleeni, the chances were small that they would be able to continue their education.
Kieser, who will graduate this year from the University of Montana, returned in the fall of 2007 to speak to Northern students about organizing a fundraiser to support the children’s education. He and teachers Becky Zoppi and Tony Moon figured out that if everyone in the school donated $2 it would be enough for all 32 children to attend school for one year.
“Once the idea was in place, Becky and Tony came to me to see how Be There/Interact could get involved, ” said teacher and Be There/Interact advisor Bryan Hill. “The group started making posters and spread the word with announcements and t-shirts. They really became proactive in the effort to help.” Unsure of how the first year would turn out, the group set a goal of $2,500.
“That first year in 2008 when I was a freshman we weren’t sure how much we could raise, ” said Be There/Interact student leader Katie Jesaitis. “We ended up collecting close to $4,000, which was really exciting.” In the following years, the event has grown from simply raising money to a much more personal experience with the children. P-Northern students write letters back and forth to the Tuleeni children, and they sent a DVD about the high school with the Kieser family when they traveled back to Tanzania in September of 2008.
“The students have strongly attached themselves to the effort to help the children of Tuleeni, ” Hill said. “They see photos of those they’re helping and can hear from the children who are so thankful for the students’ support.”
“Our club has so many dedicated students that show up centered on the idea of helping people, ” said Be There/Interact student leader Stephanie Schwartz. “It’s taught me that people are really thankful to get help and how important it is to help others.” To support Northern’s effort in the $2-for-Tuleeni week, contact Hill at bhill@portageps.org.
Published by Kalamazoo Gazette staff at https://www.mlive.com/kzgazette_community_extra/2011/04/northern_high_students_support.html