Partnership across the planet

An African encounter has left a Shawnigan student vowing to make an impact.

 

Tatum H. was a member of Shawnigan's EDGE 2018 team when she visited Gweru, in the Makoba District of Central Zimbabwe.

 

While in Gweru, the team visited an orphanage, with each student spending time with an individual child.

 

For Tatum, that child was 3-year-old Adonai. "He was really sick and tired that day, so I really just carried him around," she recalls. "We spent the day together, looking at elephants and snakes and other wildlife." When the time came for Tatum to leave Adonai behind, however, saying goodbye proved heartbreaking.

 

Returning to Canada, Tatum made a promise to herself – "I promised that I would carry this forward for as long as I am able to."

 

Inspired by similar fundraising done by another EDGE participant, Elise M., two years previously, Tatum kicked off a fundraising drive. She ran bottle drives over the summer, and also started a GoFundMe page for his education.

 

Her original hope was to raise $500 CAD to send Adonai to school for a year. As the funding increases however, she's now hoping to support some of the other 14 children living in 'Loving Lizzie's Orphanage' – as Adonai's home has become known. Tatum also knows that, to go to school, these children must walk hours each way in the blistering heat, so she's eyeing the purchase of bicycles with any extra funding.

 

To visit Tatum's GoFundMe page or to make a donation, click here.

 

 

Tatum's initiative is one of many other student-led projects aimed at local and international communities in need.

 

On Saturday, students will run laps of Kaye's Pond as part of the Relay For Life – a community-based fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society.