In an effort to get involved with and to better understand the experience of students in other parts of the world, students from Shenandoah University’s Going Global First-Year Seminar and James Wood High School are partnering with the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project (NAOP) in a “Barefoot Mile” event on Friday, April 10, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the campus of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
NAOP works on behalf of HIV/AIDS orphans in rural Uganda to end systemic deprivation, poverty, and hunger through a holistic approach to community development, education, and health care. NAOP operates two primary schools educating 465 children this year, including 60 preschool-aged children. NAOP is also paying for 191 students to attend secondary school this year.
Believing that no child should ever have to walk alone, the “Barefoot Mile” is a student-led event in which participating students will walk one mile barefoot on Shenandoah University’s track to represent just one of the seven (or more) miles the students of Nyaka and Kutamba primary schools walk each and every day in order to attend school. Schools throughout the United States, as well as schools in Korea and New Zealand, have previously participated in this world-wide event.
The event entry fee is $5 for students and $10 for non-students; participants receive a pair of socks as part of their entry fee (if participants are not comfortable walking barefoot). All proceeds go to NAOP.
Barry Lee of WINC-FM’s WINC Wake-Up Show will emcee the event, which will also include an African drum circle, bracelet making with African beads, and a bake sale. Crafts made by the NAOP community will also be sold.
“We wanted to have an event that engages the hearts and minds of students around the world to understand some of the hardships the students of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project and others around the developing world experience while obtaining a basic education,” said Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, founder and executive director of NAOP.
“It is our hope that students will demonstrate an increased understanding of the efforts children in developing countries have to make in order to attend school,” he continued. “We also have asked students to use this as a fundraiser for our students as well as an opportunity to raise awareness using video, photographs and social media. We hope this will become an annual event.”
Kaguri spoke to Shenandoah University students about NAOP in September 2014 and inspired the university’s Director of General Education Amy Sarch, Ph.D., and her daughter, James Wood High School student Zoe Schopick, who will volunteer at Nyaka this summer.
Kaguri also inspired senior psychology major Elizabeth Jensen when she first met him four years ago during a talk to first-year students. This year, Jensen learned more about Kaguri’s cause during his September visit and formed the Friends of Nyaka student group, which has raised money for NAOP all year.
Out of a population of approximately 34 million, Uganda’s HIV/AIDS pandemic has resulted in more than 2.2 million children who have lost parents. In addition to the trauma of losing a parent, orphans go without many of the basic human needs: food, shelter, clothing, health care and education.
While the African extended family has traditionally stepped in to support orphans, the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has overburdened this traditional safety net. NAOP was born out of this crisis.
A unique aspect of the organization is that the schools are completely free to attend, and children are guaranteed an education through high school from the moment they are enrolled. In addition to providing a quality education in a nurturing environment, NAOP provides two meals per day, uniforms, books, medical care and supplies to the students.