At Asante Africa Foundation, we are always amazed at the tenacity of young people and the community that supports their commitment and efforts. Whether in the US or East Africa, young people prove time and again that they have what it takes to do more.
On Thursday May 23, 2013 the students and faculty at Grattan Elementary School in San Francisco, CA held their annual fund run to raise money and awareness for children in East Africa. A long-standing partnership between Grattan and Asante Africa Foundation has resulted in creating positive changes for many needy children in East Africa.
Asante Africa Foundation was present at the event, including CEO/Founder, Erna Grasz, to witness first hand how these young people were taking action. We arrived at the school early that beautiful spring morning, found our way to one of the classrooms where we met with Sue Ellen, the inspiring teacher, who has been collaborating with Asante Africa Foundation to organize the event.
Hanging from the ceiling of her classroom were pictures of Asante Africa Foundation students in Kenya and Tanzania holding the bookmarkers given by her students. After spending some time with Sue Ellen’s class we walked to the courtyard where the rest of the students were getting ready.
The school’s principal introduced Erna, who expressed how great it is to see such young people so eager to help other children. She taught the students a handful of Swahili words, and then handed the microphone back to one of the teachers who instructed the students to start warming up!
Yellow t-shirts began zooming by as students made their rounds. Upon completing each lap around the school’s campus, students got a mark on their arm. These marks would come in handy later on when they approached their sponsors to show them how many laps they ran. Sponsors would then make a contribution based on the number of laps the student completed.
Immediately after the run was over students were escorted to a nearby park where they spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and enjoying some well-earned refreshments! We also met Draven Lee, another teacher at Grattan whom, after spending some time in Tanzania had always wanted to find a way to help out but never found the opportunity to do so.
The event was a huge success for Grattan Elementary School and the children they worked so hard to help. Grattan raised over $3000!
We want to thank Grattan Elementary School’s community of teachers, faculty, students and parents for their amazing contributions.
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