Every Little Bit Helps

This year at John Norquay Elementary School, the grade 7 classes and the grade 6 students from Division Four decided to have a fundraiser to support the Afghan refugees, who are being driven out of their homes due to the conflicts taking place in their country. We agreed to have a walk-a-thon and a school store to raise money. The students collected pledge money for the walk-a-thon, and some of us sold lollipops, chocolate mints, chips, and juice boxes at recess and lunch.
     We left for the 10k walk around Stanley Park on November 2nd thinking of the refugees who might have to walk that far everyday for their food. We had fun on the walk but we kept the purpose of it in our heads. At the end we had hot dogs and played a soccer game. We were glad that we could do something to help the refugees. We hope that we will be able to feed some of the families who suffer from malnutrition and other diseases.
     Each class made different art creations showing how we felt about war and what we thought it was. After they were made, the teachers talked about what really happens during wars. We had group discussions that taught us about the refugees and how they feel and survive.
     To learn more about refugees' lives, one of the teachers, Mr. Ewert brought a slide show of himself living with African refugees. He wanted to give us an idea of what it is like for refugees who survive with almost nothing. The pictures helped us understand how much they need our help.
     Finally, on November 19th Mr. George Chandler from the Red Cross talked to the grades 6 and 7 students about the Afghan refugees. We learned a lot about them, but there were three astonishing facts that stood out from the rest. We learned that about 90% of the injured people in war are innocent civilians. Also, there are more landmines than people in Afghanistan.
     In addition he said that children are targeted more than everything else in wars. Children are used as soldiers to protect themselves and their families. Their education is taken away from them and they make toys out of scraps to pass the time. It is sad that in the last 10 years, over 20 million children have lost their homes to the wars. The refugees see death almost everyday and it burns into their memories and that makes their lives so unbearable that they need special help forgetting.
     In the end, we raised $1430 from the walk-a-thon and school sale. We learned to have a new awareness for people in need and to cherish our rights. We sincerely hope that we have made a difference to some of the Afghan refugees.

By Laurie Citynski , Grade 7 student