On Wednesday, April 23rd, Brentwood School once again welcomed Team i-ACT for a presentation to help connect Southern California kids with refugees in Darfur. The 30 minute lunchtime showcase included a dozen well written, and well read monologues from the Brentwood School student body. Half were spoken from a Darfuris’ perspective while the other half from the perspective of a Brentwood student. The goal was to connect these bright young minds and vivacious souls, to those that are similar in age but living an unfathomable life across the globe. Like i-ACT Co-Founder and Director Gabriel Stauring said, “We want to make it personal. We want these kids to become educated and empower themselves to stand up for what is right and wrong, and of course not to detract from the natural feeling of empathy.”
One of the many beautiful posters put up by Brentwood School’s student body.
The Brentwood students shared the things they appreciate in life: to act and express themselves on stage, to work hard for a touchdown on a college Saturday football field, and their love for their friends and family. Guisma’s family from Darfur was able to share their voices via the students: their love for soccer, their favorite teams and players (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba) and the precious time their family has together when playing the sport of soccer that is loved within the refugee camps and worldwide!
According to History teacher, Ms. Martha Kermott, she said that after the day’s activity most of the students said the program made the refugee issue personal for them. The fact that academic research is bringing a personal connection and real voices to these global issues is a great success. The kind gestures from Brentwood School did not stop there, over the time span of 10 days they accumulated over $1,000 for Darfur refugees ($10 pays for one whole year worth of food for one refugee) and are donating soccer balls to i-ACT’s sibling projects Darfur United and soccer academy (Darfur United Soccer Academy). Word in the hallways is that one student even mentioned that he, or she, is thinking of starting a student club for Darfur United :))
A Brentwood Eagle cordially poses for a picture after purchasing an official Darfur United tee. All proceeds support the 2014 Darfur United Soccer Squad. Click on the photo to purchase the t shirt.
We hope our collaboration efforts with Brentwood School continue to grow after the priceless 8 years of dedicated advocacy from Ms. Kermott. After this school term, she will retire from teaching and will become a full-time Grandma up in Washington state. i-ACT would like to give a giant hug and humongous THANK YOU to her and all of Brentwood School’s students that have sacrificed their time supporting the cause, and have lent their ears to current global issues.
If you, or your school would like more information on the #Tools4Peace that i-ACT is currently working on, or are interested in donating to help the refugees of Darfur, please visit our website for more information. We’re always willing to listen to ideas that can help make the world a cohesive and peaceful place.
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