Potsdam Couple Building Ethiopian School
POTSDAM - Alex J. French and his fiancee, Kayla M. Riley, are a world away from Ethiopia, but have constant reminders of their time there all over their living room.
A small map of Africa made of banana leaves of all different textures and colors hangs above their TV; other walls have pictures and a huge map of Ethiopia with little black X's all over it.
They don't really need the reminders; they have spent hours and hours thinking about Ethiopia and developing a plan to help one village build a school for its 300 children.
"I'm a teacher and a bleeding heart and they said, 'Please help us build a school,'" said Miss Riley, an eighth-grade teacher at Gouverneur Middle School. "I was ready to start building mud bricks right then and there."
Mr. French spent six months in Ethiopia working for a non-governmental organization called Ascend Alliance, which has since become Forever Young, from November 2008 to May 2009.
While there - the only white person for miles around - he befriended a man named Mieso. The two drank lots of tea and coffee and traveled together, including a trip to Mieso's village, Gembeltu. Mieso is the first person from the village to graduate college.
That trip has transformed the lives of both Mr. French and Miss Riley.
Mr. French went there first, and took Miss Riley when she visited over Christmas break. The villagers brought them flowers and sang them songs under a eucalyptus tree.
"Then they explained to me, 'Look, this is where our children have school, our teachers are volunteers,'" Mr. Riley said. "Then they gave me the whole 'You are a white man, you will build us a school.'"
Then they gave their white villagers milk, which is a delicacy in Ethiopia. However, without the electricity to refrigerate or pasteurize it, it is more like a combination of chunky 90-degree yogurt, butter and milk, Miss Riley said.
Building a four-room school for kindergarten through third grade with desks, chalkboards and a latrine in Ethiopia costs approximately $20,000.
"I spoke to the head of education for this district. He looked at the map and said it is far enough away from the other schools that it could count as its own district," he said. "The government does not have the money to build a school, but if a school was built, it would be the government's responsibility to provide a budget."
Though the pair say they are only planning to build one school, their efforts are already drawing comparisons to Greg Mortenson, the founder of the Central Asia Institute, which has built hundreds of schools all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are going to Fort Drum on Saturday to hear him speak, and are hoping to get the chance to meet him.
"He really is kind of my hero," Mr. French said. "I feel like a little schoolgirl that I'm going to see him on Saturday."
In recent months, Mr. French, Miss Riley and their friend Daniel D. Smith, a senior at SUNY Potsdam, have canvassed Potsdam, getting people and organizations involved in their efforts. So far, they have raised about $50, but they are waiting until their kick-off event on March 19. The band Ten*Speed*Taxi and DJ Scorpio will hold a benefit concert for them at 9 p.m. at The Casbah. They are also planning to talk to religious organizations and college groups and hold a dinner, silent auction and poetry readings.
"We really started to make some concrete plans in January," Mr. Smith, of Potsdam, said. "It seems almost a bit more quickly than we expected, but we're keeping the wheels on the wagon."
They need 200 individuals or groups to donate $100 each to meet their goal. The trio are hoping to raise the money by November, when Mr. French and Mr. Smith will be going to Ethiopia to help the residents of Gembeltu start construction. Miss Riley will go back again when she is on Christmas break.
To get involved, call Mr. French and Miss Riley at 212-0634, or on the Web, go to their Web site to donate directly through PayPal.
On The Net: Engage Now: http://engagenowafrica.org/#/special-projects
