Jackson Petrauskas –
The View –
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, $75 buys a girl one year of high school education.
That’s Starbucks coffee every day for two weeks. Or Chick-Fil-A every day for a week. Or three trips to the movies.
Three hundred dollars buys one year of college.
Castle View’s French Honor Society wants to raise about $13,000 to provide 140 girls with a high school education and five girls with college. And they’re doing that through the Muanjadi Organization, a nonprofit that helps girls stay in school and is this year’s MAD charity.
”You are impacting a whole country,” honor society president Gaby Rodriguez said. “You’re impacting individuals in that country, impacting their economy and gender equality all over the world.”
The 6th annual MAD Week kicks off Friday with an assembly and runs April 6 to 10. Students will be able to donate through a variety of events.
Castle View students chose the Muanjadi Organization from among three nominated charities.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in central Africa, girls must walk miles to get to school. Many can’t afford an education. Many can be married off if not in school by the age of 12.
The Muanjadi Organization’s mission is to educate young girls and women through high school and into college. This organization operates in parts of the Congo where people live on less than $1 a day. In comparison, the average person in the U.S. lives on $94 a day.
The French Honor Society has already sponsored 11 girls over several years. You can learn more about Muanjadi at http://www.muanjadi.org.
Last year, Castle View — along with the help of surrounding feeder schools — raised about $13,500 for Urban Peak, a Denver-based organization that works with homeless youth.
“I really hope we go above and beyond and get to something a little bit higher,” said Rodriguez, a junior. “That would make me really happy.”
The Muanjadi Organization was among the finalists for consideration for MAD Week last year. When the school chose Urban Peak instead, Rodriguez began researching in-depth into the situation of girls’ lives in Africa. “It really made my heart break,” she said. “It was just really hard seeing how these people have such different lives than us. I’ve traveled a lot and I know that it varies from country to country, but this was just so different and devastating.They need to at least have an opportunity that we have.”
MAD Week events include dodgeball, MAD minute, Mr. Sabercat, powder puff football, ruff and tuff volleyball, academy basketball game, food nights at various locations and more. For a complete schedule with times and locations, go to www.castleviewhs.com. To donate, go to www.castleviewhs.com/madweek.
“I’m super excited for MAD week this year,” student government adviser Robert Sutterer said. “All the academies will be involved, which will involve more students from around the school.”
