Elon students studying in Belize during Winter Term pitched in to help a youth soccer team get ready for an upcoming tournament. Read this story for details and photos...
Elon students studying in Belize over Winter Term brought more than their regular gift of school supplies to a school in August Pine Ridge. This year, the students also donated about $250 to the school to help the students purchase jerseys for the girl’s soccer team, which was about to participate in a competitive tournament but did not have the money to purchase uniforms or jerseys to identify them as a team.
The Elon students, led by Nancy Harris, associate dean of Elon College, the College of the Arts and Sciences, and Janet MacFall, associate professor of Biology, spent a day playing soccer and talking with the August Pine students, and dropped off school supplies they had collected over fall semester. As the group was leaving, the principal of the school took Harris and MacFall aside and asked them if there was anything they could do to help the students raise $250 for soccer jerseys. The two told him they would talk to student organizations at Elon in the spring and try to raise the money, but also mentioned it to their students at lunch that day. The students’ response was immediate.
“Nobody in the group hesitated to contribute,” said Rob Niemeyer, a junior majoring in biology. “We heard about these kids’ need and everyone was immediately pulling out his wallet, saying ‘What do you need? How can I help?’ It was really great how quickly everyone volunteered to help.”
Each student donated $5 to $15, and the group called the principal to let him know they would be returning that afternoon with the money needed for the jerseys. When they arrived at the school, they found the more than 300 students waiting for them, along with their teachers and principal, lined up in front of the building. The principal gave a speech, then Niemeyer presented the money to the students, as well as two soccer balls, one for the boy’s team and one for the girl’s.
“It was amazing how appreciative the school was of our donation,” said Brittany Phillips, a junior biology major. “The students were pulled out of class to hold a formal ceremony for us, and the principal praised us, calling us ‘the school’s miracle.’ All the students were cheering, and all the girls on our trip were crying, it was so emotional. These students, some of whom are as young as 4 and the oldest are 14, come from really poor families, and we felt compelled to help because we could. These kids may be poor, but they are happy and thankful, and this was something nice we could do for them.”
Phillips’ donation to the school didn’t end with her. When she returned to the United States and showed her family, neighbors and friends her pictures of the students and told them about the group’s gift, she said everyone immediately asked if there was anything they could do to help the children in Belize. One of her neighbors works for Umbro, the soccer and sporting goods company, and she said he is trying to get together extra soccer clothing to send to the August Pine Ridge school. Phillips said she is planning to take up a collection of sports equipment and school supplies over spring break and send it to the school.
“It’s amazing how our one good deed has affected so many people,” she said.
The group’s gift to the school was not their only good deed done during January. On their last night in Belize, the students presented their two Belize guides with brand-new machetes they’d pooled their money to purchase. The new knives replaced the guides’ old, broken and rusted tools.
“Giving to the students and our guides shows a level of maturity in recognizing what we at Elon have, and what these people in this poor country don’t have,” Niemeyer said. “We wanted to leave a mark on them, just as they’d left a mark on us. And I think that’s true of all Elon students who see need around them. We were just doing what any other student group would do, because Elon students in general are good-hearted.”
– Story by Ellis Harman ’05
Students in the Winter Term Field Biology in Belize course:
Amy R. Benjamin
Lauren A. Bollenback
Ian D. Bond
David M. Buff
Glenn M. Butera
Shannon R. Carmichael
Emily K. Darch
Breanna M. Keenan
Kevin G. Kinker
Courtney A. Lawrence
Rebekah E. Lee
Dominique Mitchell
Danielle L. Morrow
Robert S. Niemeyer
Jenni M. O’Malley
Jared W. Otte
Kristen L. Owens
Brittany A. Phillips
Morgan P. Steele
Victoria L. Strange