FHS Junior Statesmen Bring Aid to Tanzania

Every big project starts off small—a lesson well-learned by members of Findlay High School’s Junior Statesmen of America who are seeing their efforts come to fruition. The group, which has about 45 members, has raised funds by hosting a community dinner, selling coupon booklets, and doing chores such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, and cleaning up the Donnell Stadium. The money the students earned was sent to Rotary of Tanga, which has overseen humanitarian projects in Tanzania completed with labor and materials from the region. They raised $10,200 for The Rainwater Harvesting for Sanitation in Primary Schools Project, which provides rainwater tanks used for schoolchildren’s handwashing, and $11,000 for recently-completed renovations at The Masiwani School for the Handicapped. In the past, funds earned by the Junior Statemen’s efforts have been used to build wells, supply mosquito-netting, and provide desks for a new school named after Findlay. Former FHS Junior Statesman members Tom Davidson and Leah Todd were able to travel to Tanga for the school’s dedication in 2009. Advisor Judy Withrow has asked that the Findlay Rotary Club provide $2,000 in travel expenses to send more students to Tanga to see first-hand what the group’s work has helped to accomplish.