Go back
Go home

  Features



NNSL Photo/Graphic




NNSL Logo .
Home Page bigger textsmall text Text size Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad
Children help across the globe

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 19, 2008

TTHENAAGO/NAHANNI BUTTE - Thanks to the efforts of Grade 5 students at the Charles Yohin school some of their counterparts in southern Asia will have a teacher for a year.

Seven students in Nahanni Butte worked together to raise $425.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Grade 5 students at the Charles Yohin school in Nahanni Butte including Ryley Matou, left, Josh Bertrand, Qualin Konisenta, Charla Isaiah-Marcellais, Destiny Ekotla, Leanna Vital and Nathan Betsaka raised $425, enough to hire a teacher for a year in southern Asia. - photo courtesy of Cindy Buterbaugh

The fundraising was part of the students' participation in the O Ambassador program.

Teacher Cindy Buterbaugh found out about the program through the Internet at the beginning of the school year.

"I thought it was a chance to get some more resources for the school," she said.

O Ambassadors is a joint project between Oprah's Angel Network and Free the Children. The program is designed to inspire young people to become active and knowledgeable global citizens.

Through the program students work to meet the millennium development goals set by the United Nations by addressing problems such as hunger, poverty and limited access to education.

After Buterbaugh applied for the program and the school was selected they received information about all the countries where the program has projects.

The students then decided what they wanted to do to help.

For $400 the students found out they could provide the salary for a teacher for a year in a country in southern Asia.

"It seemed like maybe a goal we could reach," said Buterbaugh.

The seven students quickly got behind the project.

"They were quite keen about it actually," she said.

The students started raising money by holding a penny drive but soon some of the youth started bringing in $20 bills, Buterbaugh said.

Josh Bertrand, 11, was one of the students who started to bring in his own money to donate to the cause.

O Ambassadors is a good project because it helps kids, Bertrand said.

For a while Bertrand said he wasn't sure they would reach the $400 goal but was glad when they did.

Some students found inventive ways to raise money. Destiny Ekotla, 10, along with her friends Charla Isaiah-Marcellais and Leanna Vital sold slushies in the community to raise money.

"I think it's good to help people," said Ekotla.

Through the O Ambassadors Ekotla said she learned about other countries in the world and what they need.

Edwin Lindberg gave the students' fundraising efforts a boost. He heard about the project and made a donation that was matched by the school's principal Wayne Ingarfield.

In total the students raised $425.

They hope the extra $25 will be used to purchase mosquito nets for a family. The nets cost about $10 each, said Buterbaugh.

After such a successful year with the program, Buterbaugh said students in other grades might be asked to join next year and the school will take on another project to help children.