Jane Philpott writes...
A Coin for Every Country
From Stouffville, Ontario
"A Coin for Every Country" is an idea that started around our dining room table! Having lived, as a family, in Niger, West Africa for nine years, we find that Africa is never far from our minds. So we were talking about what we, as a family, could do to ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Our children wanted to design an activity for their own schools. We wanted to raise money, but we knew that we would have to do something that would also inform people about the magnitude of the pandemic. We also wanted our Canadian friends to realize how much we can learn from Africa – its beauty, its diversity and the warmth and generosity of its people.
The idea we came up with is called "A Coin for Every Country".
It was launched at William Berczy Public School in Unionville, Ontario in November 2004 after contacting the Stephen Lewis Foundation and it will take place at several schools in York Region in the year to come.
The adventure begins as each student is given a beautiful homemade bag sewn from genuine African cloth. Students are asked to collect 50 coins – one coin for each of the 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They may collect pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies, toonies – or whatever combination they can get.
On the day of the program, students travel through ten stations which are set up in the school gym, classrooms and/or hallways. Each station represents five countries – so 50 countries in all are visited. On arrival at each station, the students take coins from their cloth bag and deposit one coin in the container for each country. Each station is highlighted by activity which teaches something about those countries and/or how they are affected by AIDS.
Some of the station activities include:
- Carrying a tray of food on your head and walking around a set of pylons.
- Counting coins from an African currency and figuring out the value in Canadian currency.
- Strapping a baby doll on the back and trying to pound some corn into flour using a mortar and pestle.
- Learning to count to ten in an African language.
- Listening to African music and playing traditional instruments.
- Running a bicycle tire along the hallway using a simple stick, and more...
The station activities each teach something special about life in Africa. Senior students host each station and spend some time teaching about the countries visited.
At William Berczy School, in November 2004, $3,564 was raised for HIV/AIDS in Africa and donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Glad Park School in Stouffville ran the program in February 2005 and raised $4,138!
Many variations on this idea are possible. We feel many others could try it with their school group, faith group or club with great success.
The cloth bags were made using long rectangles of colourful African cloth (we started with piece about 6" by 16"). After sewing it into a sack, we used ribbons to make it into a drawstring bag.
Many of the station ideas are simple – carrying a basket of food on your head, dressing up in African clothes. Singing along with African music. Learning facts about AIDS and Africa using a crossword puzzle. Make your own variation. Have fun. Learn. Raise money to ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa!
Sincerely,
Jane Philpott, Stouffville, ON
pepandjane@rogers.com