http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Proftitutes/~3/81572136/rev-thom-and In Honors English 105, we hosted two humanitarian workers, Thom and Vickie Hicks of Lousiville, KY. Their talk was absolutely inspirational.

This whole project started as a result of meeting Jean-Claude Bradley at a WebCT conference at Drexel. He helped me generate some games in English using the EduFrag project. In talking to him about chemistry, something I know nothing about, I was impressed with his passion and dedication for "open source chemistry." I knew that partnering my students with his would be a tremendous learning experience for everyone.

Because of the partnership between UsefulChem and my writing students in English 105 and English 107, the Community College without Borders Project began. As I looked for away to apply the terms of malaria to "real people" I remembered my dear friends, Thom and Vickie Hicks. I searched the web for their contact info, and, well, the rest is history.

The most striking thing about this group is that they are small. They do not want to get big because they are able to serve the people who live in the cracks of Sierra Leone - the ones untouched by other humanitarian efforts. They serve these people in absolute humility, as well. And, most importantly, they serve everyone regardless of religion. In many ways, they operate like UsefulChem - they realize that the issue - poverty - is everywhere and that this community is just one of the many "targets" they could work on. They work with very little funding, and they don't work in opposition to other groups - they just do their thing and know it is the best thing for them to do to live out their mission.

Thom's talk captivated the students. He spoke a lot about the American desire to "fix" the world, but that we have to realize that the problems in Sierra Leone, or anywhere else, can't be fixed. We can only work to "bear witness" and hope that by doing so, we can help the actual people in need. This was hard for my students to accept - an idea that we can't just fix it - even if we had all the resources in the world. But, the message was clear, we must focus on actual people and not on policy.

Our goal now is to raise money to purachase a generator for Nazareth House in Sierra Leone. Right now, they pay for electricty, but only get it for a few minutes a day. Since most medicine is provided in powder form, a lot of it goes to waste since it has to be kept cold after mixing.

We need to raise 3000 dollars to purchase a good generator. Hopefully, we can raise this money for them. If anyone wishes to donate, please email me and I will get you connected. All donations are tax deductible.

I am thankful for having met Jean-Claude, as his work has inspired me toward the work in Sierra Leone.