New desks for the Chimoza Community School!

After spending two years studying together, the students in the AP World History course were intrigued and moved by the presentation made to the Oldfields community by Chellie Blake Kew ‘73, founder of the Q-Fund for AIDS, on April 23. They came to class that day with grandiose ideas about ways they could help her and the AIDS orphans of Africa. Their ideas developed more fully after an e-mail was forwarded to the entire school from Chellie to let us know that she had raised all but $535 needed to supply her school, the Chimoza Community School in the copperbelt region of Zambia, with desks.

Following their AP exam, juniors Saabirah, Lindsay, Audrey, Christina, Lysi and Christina still felt they wanted to make a difference. They coordinated an out-of-dress-code-day fundraiser, having calculated that if each community member donated $3, they could buy enough desks for Chimoza and purchase other supplies for the school. They created flyers and coordinated efforts to collect donations. By the day’s end, the six students had collected $571 to send to the Q-Fund.

Upon receipt of the funds raised by the girls, Mrs. Kew sent the following message back to Oldfields, “By a selfless act of kindness, I am on my way back to Zambia to personally buy school desks, paper, pencils and books for the orphans of Chimoza Community School, thanks to some pioneering students. Every person associated with Oldfields from the teachers, alumnae, head, trustees, and, of course, the students should be overjoyed by the display of shear goodness of some fine girls… This July, I am a speaker at the National Coalition of Girls Schools. The young ladies of Oldfields’ ears will be ringing as I thank them publicly for their ‘Largeness of Heart.’”

Students continue to imagine ways to support the Q-Fund as the Black Awareness Club tries to capture the attention of Oprah Winfrey and plans are made to observe World AIDS Day on campus in December. For more information about the Q-Fund 4 AIDS, go to www.qfund4aids.org.

by Tonya Montgomery