Spreading the wealth across an ocean
Katherine Loeck | May 9, 2006 02:16 PM | Link
Phumlani wakes from a deep sleep as sunlight creeps through his sheet metal roof. He rolls off the blanket that he shares with his sister and mother in their single bed. He stares at the kerosene stove and pot that decorate their 12-by-12 shack. All of his possessions hang on a nail. He gets ready for a long day at work because his mother cannot. She has AIDS; she can’t even walk. He dreams of becoming a doctor, but quit school to earn money to send his sister instead.
Things are different now. Phumlani and his sister moved to a real home last fall thanks to one Johnson County charity.
Oceans of Mercy has been helping children like Phumlani since 2002 when Schaun Colin, Westside Family Church Missions Pastor, established the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization in the basement of his coffee shop. Colin saves and supports the lives of AIDS orphans by trying to divert just a little of Johnson County’s excessive wealth to another continent. In the process, he has convinced one University of Kansas student that her life of privilege creates a debt that ought to be paid. There is one thing he wants KU students to know.
“They are the richest people in the world, and with that comes responsibility,” Colin said.
Maggie Gremminger, Shawnee freshman, joined Oceans of Mercy in 2004 after Colin visited her high school. As she watched videos of sick, happy, beautiful South African children who only possessed the dirt on their feet, she noticed her peers wearing Abercrombie jeans with keys to brand new cars in the pockets. These kids wanted to skip school, but the children on the screen were dying to go. She understood Colin’s cause, and the need for help.
- South Africa has more people infected by AIDS than any other country in the world
- More than 260 babies are abandoned in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa every month
- On average in this region, there are 300 AIDS funerals every weekend
“I’ve grown up my whole life in the Johnson County cocoon,” Gremminger said. “I realized that I did nothing to deserve my life privileged life. It made me feel really wasteful.”
Like Gremminger, when Traci Johnson, Oceans of Mercy fundraising coordinator, learned about the situation in South Africa, she realized how sheltered she was in Johnson County.
“I see so much wealth and wasted wealth on cars and houses,” Johnson said. “It’s ok to have those things but make sure to give back.”
Anyone who earns minimum wage in the United States is in the top 5 percent of the richest people in the world, Colin said. With that comes the obligation to help the less fortunate.
Allison Kapsner, Blaine, Minn., sophomore, is doing just that. Kapsner spent 10 days in Uganda over winter break, helping her mother with nursing mission work. Kapsner realized that since she has the ability to help others, she needs to do it. Now, she is raising money to send Henry, an African teacher, back to school in the fall.
Kapsner stands with some of Henry's future students. Once Henry finishes college, he will teach at a primary and secondary school on Lingira Island on Lake Victoria in Uganda.“He is great with all the kids and they love him, Kapsner said.” “He made an impact on my life and my mom’s, so we feel it’s the least we can do to help him. Not many people over there get help, and they all need it.”
There are 70 children waiting for Henry to finish college. He has two years left, but because school costs $2,500 a year, he can’t afford to continue. So far, Kapsner has raised $130 towards Henry’s tuition.
“I’ve been sitting on Massachusetts Street in African apparel with African instruments, and doing an African tribal dance that I learned from the children that Henry will be teaching,” she said.
Kapsner and Gremminger are doing their part to help the world, one life at a time. Rebekah Heacock, KU for Uganda president, said students need to dedicate themselves to an international cause, because what happens in Uganda or South Africa impacts the United States.
College is the time when people realize there are issues facing the world, and they want to help, said Anton Bengston, Center for Community Outreach codirector.
“It’s easy to come to school,” Bengston said. “One of the most important things is connecting what’s inside the classroom with what’s outside. It’s part of the maturation process.”
He said exposing students to situations outside of their comfort zones is good motivation to get an education in order to make changes for the environment, the homeless or the poor.
Mama Gladys Panda is the housemother and caretaker of the Children's Village.Johnson said that simply being born in America is a blessing. Oceans of Mercy volunteers share this wealth with South African children who are not as lucky. The organization responds to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing prevention, care and support services for people living with AIDS. The Children's Village provides a loving, educational home for orphans and other vulnerable children.
Today, Phumlani is a ninth-grader who has been given a second chance. Because Phumlani realizes he is no longer underprivileged, he returns to his township to help others in need.
“If each young person helped or reached out to someone in need, think of the effect we could have…in our neighborhoods, our classrooms, our community and the world,” Johnson said.
In 2005, Oceans of Mercy established a Children's Village on a farm outside of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The money for this purchase was raised over a period of two and a half years.