It’s Our Job Now…

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“…to appreciate what we have and work to better opportunities for others.”

It is our mission at Building Tomorrow to engage youth in philanthropy and help them realize that they are capable of changing the lives of their peers around the world. This past December, St. Mary’s School in Memphis,Tennessee participated in Sit For Good, our service learning program. For one day, students were asked to forgo using desks and other classroom materials in order to better understand the learning obstacles faced by children in Uganda. A senior at St. Mary’s reflects on her experiences and how Sit for Good helped her identify a passion for the cause:

I believe that the most challenging thing for me to do today in the Sit for Good classroom was most likely dealing with the difficulties of sitting on the floor with no light and trying to get my work done. For example, while in the Chemistry room today, we were told to sit in a small half-circle area designated for us. This was to not only simulate the amount of room that children in Uganda have, but also to show us the pain of sitting for so long. Yes, it sounds extremely spoiled, but most of us Americans cannot sit on the floor for so long comfortably. It was the same issue in the Algebra II classroom. Sitting on the floor, without much light (due to the rainy weather we have been having lately), it was exceedingly difficult to concentrate on his test review. Our concentration, both in Chemistry and Algebra II, wandered, and frankly, not many students got very much work done.

I have to say, I don’t think that any of us would be able to learn very well in this setting every day. I am truly impressed. Not only do children such as those in Uganda live like this every day, they learn in this type of environment. We are blessed in a school like ours where we have so many opportunities. We have computers, scanners, printers, paper, pens, and LIGHT. I never realized how important light is to learning. Studying and teaching in a dark environment must be horribly difficult, and I simply think that we are so lucky to have the school and the resources that we do.

It is our job now, because of this, to appreciate what we have and work to better opportunities for others.

For more information on St. Mary’s participation in Sit for Good, visit their blog.

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