Students and Teachers Rally as "Agents for Africa"

Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary has launched a year-long campaign to encourage the awareness of an issue that continues to plague the African continent: HIV/AIDS. Students and teachers will fundraise in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, playing the roles of campaigners, ambassadors and ultimately – as the program’s moniker reads – “Agents for Africa.”

A major aim of the campaign is to involve Wise Wood’s many faculties and clubs in the education effort – many teachers are infusing HIV/AIDS into their subject curriculums. The school’s Fine Arts program will produce several art sales, drama shows and dance performances geared towards awareness – all put on by the students themselves.

“I teach a little bit about it in art, too,” says Lil Molstad, the art curriculum leader at Wise Wood, of the Africa-themed work she does with her students. “In order to give the students impetus to do something special, they need to know why they’re doing it. And so the work that they do ends up being really strong,” she adds.

The Art Sale for Africa occurred from November 23rd to 27th at Wise Wood, while drama shows took place on the 26th and 27th. However, volunteering students will also be selling handmade bracelets during the coming months. The students and teachers organizing Agents for Africa plan for it to culminate with a Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) guest speaker, tentatively slotted for May 2010.

SLF has funded over 300 grass-roots initiatives in 15 countries during the last three years. These community-based programs focus on providing HIV education, counselling to the affected, as well as the distribution of medication and other essential supplies. SLF brings considerable aid to the regions of Africa most ravaged by the disease – a feat which Wise Wood students are steadily growing to appreciate.

“We can all get so wrapped up in ourselves sometimes; it’s nice to broaden the perspective and become more aware. What we’re doing this year really does matter,” says grade 11 art student Rebecca Hay of the process. The work of all Wise Wood’s students will be helping to combat one of the foremost global issues today.