"I described the challenges of families and children there," said Otai, recalling the visit, her first to the U.S., during a recent international phone call. "Most families live in houses with iron sheet roofs and mud floors, no indoor plumbing or electricity ... no access to clean water. If they can get work, they become very cheap labor at nearby industrial factories, earning about $2 a day."
The students, moved by what they heard, had a bevy of questions for Otai. At one point, a girl named Jasmine Harris stood up and asked: "What can we do to help?"
From there, an informal partnership was launched with Jhpiego, and a long-distance friendship was born between a Baltimore school and a country an ocean away.
"At first, we thought about sending clothing to the children in Kenya, because one of the things we learned from Miss Jane was that there weren't enough uniforms," said Keishonna Davis, 11.
But shipping items to Africa would have been too expensive. So the students agreed to save spare change and collect donations from family and friends and send that money to Kenya, Rock said. Using empty cookie tins to hold their money, the youngsters began their nearly yearlong campaign. Some gave up their favorite treats, like candy, and instead put money in the pot.
"We really wanted to help," said Wayne Zeback, 11. "Our goal was to raise a thousand dollars."
"I was saving pennies, dimes and quarters," said 10-year-old Miesha Manigault, who regaled the class with a hilarious tale of how she visited a supermarket to tally the coins in an electronic counting machine.
"They only give you nine cents on the dollar," she said, matter-of-factly. "So I got some more money from my father. He gives me an allowance."
The money trickled in slowly, but when all was said and done, the students raised about $225. That sum was matched with another $100 by some of the Baltimore Jhpiego staff and forwarded to Otai in Kenya. She described her gratitude in a thank-you letter sent to the Waverly students.
Beyond its efforts to help in Africa, the charity of Waverly's student body is also evident closer to home.
Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, students in several grade levels made placemats and centerpieces in their art classes, which were donated to The Franciscan Center, an outreach agency on West 23rd Street, not far from the school.
