OACS News Service
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London District Christian Secondary School (LDCSS), Clinton and District Christian School, John Knox Christian School in Woodstock, John Knox Christian School in Wyoming and Village Green Community Church in London partnered for the initiative. Michael Meinema, John Knox Woodstock principal, says the day after Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince was hit by a devastating earthquake students were expressing to their teachers that they wanted to do something to make a difference. Grade 5 and 7 classrooms decided to organize a bake sale, which with the help of the entire school raised $713. The Grade 6 and 8 classes learned more about the earthquake and its effects through news coverage. The week before, a parent donated $50 to the school, which sparked the idea to challenge the community to match the $50 donation with their own families. Meinema says four-year-old students came to his office to tell him about how they raised money at home. One student made all the beds in the home for a week, another helped work in the barn and another helped his father cut down trees. The junior kindergarten class raised $160 through these efforts. In total, the school raised $3,800. “Right across the board the school community embraced the fact that the kids were behind this,” Meinema says. “The students were letting the lessons of Christian education impact their hearts so much so that they are now living Christian education, they are not just learning it,” he says. The school is in its second year running an international program, working with an academy in Seoul, South Korea. “The world has really opened up for them and that’s in part why they responded to a disaster such as this . . . they are much more aware of the world and when something disastrous like this happens their gut instinct now was to respond, which was powerful,” says Meinema. LDCSS director of advancement and curriculum Kerry Wilson says after the earthquake students and staff wanted to come together to talk and pray. The school’s board chair, Marvin DeVries, was in Haiti years ago for mission work and was invited to speak at a school assembly. DeVries spoke to the school community about the poverty in Haiti that existed before the earthquake and how clean water is the country’s commodity right now, notes Wilson. DeVries is also president of Trojan Technologies, a company that makes UV light systems to purify and disinfect water. Trojan is donating a water purification unit to Haiti, which costs between $10,000-$25,000. The units are being sent under the canopy of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). Wilson says the school thought fundraising for a water purification unit would be great, adding they knew the organization is well respected and the CRWRC is a legitimate charity. School families were asked to donate what they could, and ended up fundraising $5,000. When LDCSS hosted a Jan. 15 pastor’s breakfast they shared about the initiative. Last week, Village Green Community Church in London gave the school a $10,000 cheque contribution. Wilson says partnering was what she most enjoyed about the initiative. “I think it’s always beneficial when organizations work together and I think it raises awareness” for the school and the churches, says Wilson, adding it is unknown where the relationships could lead in the future. Contributing funds to the water purification system provided an opportunity for students to do something that will definitely help, notes Wilson. “I think that was beneficial for (students) in terms of being able to deal emotionally, mentally and spiritually with this terrible tragedy,” she says. Wilson says she aims for the initiative to be an opportunity for the students to learn how water purification systems work. “(It is also an opportunity) for kids to see how creativity, innovation and technology can be used by God to bring healing and restoration to a broken part of the world, and maybe it will inspire a couple of budding engineers (to see textbook learning put into practice),” she says. If you have feedback on this article please contact jennifer(at)axiomnews.ca, or call the newsroom at 800-294-0051.
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