Students Send Words of Hope: A Group of Miami Dade College Students Wrote a Series of Children’s Books That Will Be Sent to Shelters in Uganda for Kids Who Have Escaped Child Militias
By Laura Morales, The Miami Herald
May 14–On television, a reed-thin African boy spoke of seeing other boys, some as young as 7, forced to kill their own parents and siblings with machine guns.
In her Miami classroom, Luelle Llorens, 19, recoiled at the sight of masses of children leaving their villages at dusk, walking for miles to urban areas seeking safety from marauding rebel gangs who abduct kids every night.
“I was so appalled. I couldn’t believe it,” said Llorens, a Miami Dade College student who, along with her classmates, is participating in a project to help bring a few smiles to the haunted faces of north Uganda’s little “night commuters.”
Students at the college’s Wolfson Campus have written and illustrated a series of children’s books that will be donated to The Memory Project, an organization that collects artwork and books from American kids and sends them to shelters in the developing world.
Miami Beach resident Elinor Berkovitz, 21, wrote a story called The Surprise Lesson about two boys who have to learn to share and appreciate what toys they have instead of complaining about those they don’t.
In Anything but Vegetable Soup, Llorens’ young protagonist tries to psych her mother out of making her eat the title dish but fails to come up with an argument mom can’t counter with some common sense.
The other books include Dream with Red Shoes On, Andy Dandy Goes Under the Sea, In a Full State of Mind and The Lonely Gator.
Because English is Uganda’s official language, many children will be able to understand the books.
“It was a perfect project which fulfilled both aspects of service learning: academics and community service,” said Tamica Ramos, of the college’s Center for Community Involvement.
The center proposed the assignment to freshman and sophomore English Composition and Fundamentals of Speech classes, known collectively as The Learning Community.
Llorens, classmate Michael Tuesca and the other event attendees drew pictures and wrote letters to send to President Bush and state senators demanding attention and action.
Judy Tarver, an English teacher involved in the project, said the 23 books will be shipped to Africa by Monday.
—–
Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.