Not forgotten

“Americans are blessed with great plenty; we are a generous people and we have a moral obligation to assist those who are suffering from poverty, disease, war and famine.”
—Adam Schiff,
U.S. Representative

When Abby Saxman set out to find a cause for her service project, she was first focused on something local. Research led her to the realization that the problem of poverty in developing countries is far more severe than in Jay County, Indiana and the United States as a whole.
“If you’re living in America and you need help for something like that you can go anywhere in any town,” said Saxman. “In Jay County, there are places you can go for help. There’s food banks and shelters.”
In some areas of the world, those aren’t so easy to find.
“I think it’s definitely up to us,” she added, “living in a place like this, to reach out and help people all around the world.”
Saxman and the rest of the Jay County High School chapter of the National Honor Society are offering the community a chance to help tonight as they host a “Boutique Night” during the Patriots’ boys basketball game against Richmond. In partnership with Forgotten Children Worldwide, a Bluffton-based organization, items such as purses, bracelets and scarves made by young women in developing countries will be available for purchase in the JCHS commons.
Forgotten Children seeks to help orphans and vulnerable children from poverty, and as part of that mission the organization teaches young mothers skills such as how to make jewelry or clothing. The group then purchases those items from the women, giving them a source of income, and then sells them in its store — Heshima, Swahili for dignity — with proceeds then going back into the self-sustainability initiatives.
“These gifts are perfect for Christmas presents,” said Saxman, a senior and vice president of the JCHS chapter of the National Honor Society. “I know a lot of people would love this kind of stuff. …
“I’m planning on getting some of my Christmas presents there.”
According to the CIA Factbook, 23 countries have at least 50 percent of their population living below the poverty line.
At least a third of the population lives in poverty in 55 countries.
In Chad, Haiti and Liberia, the poverty rate tops 80 percent.
But it wasn’t so much those numbers that led Saxman to choosing her cause — each NHS officer leads a project during a nine-week period of the school year in an effort to fulfill the organization’s motto of scholarship, leadership, character and service.
It was this: One in five children in Africa die of diarrhea.
Or, in other terms from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,195 children die of diarrhea every day.
“Before I even started this project, I never even thought of that as a possibility,” said Saxman. “That happens all the time. It’s obviously very real in (developing) countries.”
As part of the service project, Saxman and her fellow NHS members have already made one trip the Forgotten Children headquarters in Bluffton. They are visiting again today to work in its warehouse sorting and packing clothes to be shipped overseas, mostly to India and Ukraine.
Aaron Brown, Forgotten Children’s lone full-time employee, explained that the affect of the students helping out goes beyond sending clothes and raising money.
“I think the impact they’re having which is far greater is being a model for other students, for other young people, to show them that no matter your age you can step up and do something that can help change lives throughout the world,” he said. “And we need more of that.
“We’re so blessed as an organization to have the group from Jay County supporting us.”
The students have also been selling MudLOVE bracelets — almost 100 so far, raising nearly $1,000 — during lunch periods at JCHS.
Being an NHS officer, Saxman said, has been the most fulfilling of her high school activities because it has given her the chance to facilitate positive change rather than just thinking about it.
“It gives me the opportunity to help others and get other people involved in helping others too. For years I’ve been interested in this kind of thing — service projects and community service projects and helping people all around the world — but you see ads on TV and the opportunities are there, and you think, ‘Oh, that’s really awesome, I want to get involved in that,’ and you just never really do.
“I love doing this project because it gives everyone the opportunity to actually make a difference and do something helpful instead of just talking about it.”