Thanks to their love of reading and compassion for others, Daniel Axford Elementary students raised $400 to help a hospital and orphanage in Africa.
As part of “March is Reading Month,” DA students (kindergarten through second grade) read a mind-boggling 2,320 books between March 1 and 19.
For every five books each student read, they were allowed to donate $1 to help purchase supplies for the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and a nearby orphanage in the Republic of Malawi, an impoverished nation of 11.6 million people located in the southeastern portion of the African continent.
The effort was dubbed “Helping Hands to Africa.”
“It teaches the children that it’s important to give to others in need,” said first-grade teacher Jane Coram.
Daniel Axford’s staff and students were inspired to help this poor African nation because Mrs. Coram’s daughter, Lisa Coram, left March 23 to begin working at the 900-bed hospital in Malawi. She will return home May 2.
Lisa, a 1994 graduate of Oxford High School and former Daniel Axford student, is currently a medical student at Michigan State University. While in Africa, she will be completing an elective surgical rotation under the supervision of Dr. Terrie Taylor, who teaches a course in tropical medicine at MSU.
“I’ve always been very intrigued by the culture and different way of life (in Africa),” Lisa said. “I think it will be a really incredible experience.”
According to Mrs. Coram and Lisa, Malawi is “one of the poorest countries in Africa” and has “one of the highest prevalence rates for AIDS in all of Africa.”
“It’s a very, very poor country. There’s a lot of need there,” Lisa said. “There are a lot of very sick people there.”
Despite its problems, Malawi, a former British colony, is “a very peaceful country” and is billed as “the warm heart of Africa,” according to Lisa.
“African Reading Safari” has been the theme for this year’s reading month at DA. Students have added many African words to their vocabularies and learned African songs while listening to the beat of a “djembe,” an African drum.
DA Principal Lydia Engel was so impressed by how many books the students read that she personally challenged them to read a total of 3,000 by the end of March.