Change for Life
You've got to admit, there is nothing more exciting than being a part of something epic - an event of such great proportions that it has the ability to sweep the area and leave lives changed in its wake! Just because you are a student doesn't mean you can't flip the world upside down. In fact, as a student, YOU could be that hero that ignites a spark and challenges your school to epic proportions!
That's right, Change for Life is an incredible program that has the ability to use everyone at your school to care for students living in the city of Bukavu, DR Congo. Just think how amazing it would be to rally your school to partner with students your own age in Africa. It may sound like a big, crazy idea (and it is!), but we believe that you care enough about the students in Congo to do big, crazy things and literally change lives in the process! So sign your school up, learn about life in DR Congo through the eyes of one child named Ishara, and start collecting change!
There are three main parts to the Change for Life program: the cause, the presentation, and the challenge!
The Cause: ELI Christian Academy
In an effort to change the course of suffering lives, ELI operates training centers, schools, orphanages, and health services throughout Eastern and Central Africa. One of our schools, ELI Christian Academy, is located in the heart of a slum in Bukavu, D.R. Congo. It is currently reaching over 600 children from elementary through high school and is making a world of difference in the lives of the children. Many of these children lost their parents to the civil war and have been living on the streets or with relatives. The school provides education, lunch (the only meal that many of them receive during the day), clothing, and basic health care, all of which is giving them hope for the future.
The Presentation: Ishara's Journey
Ishara's Journey is a 30-45 minute interactive presentation that takes your class or school through the real-life journey of a 14-year-old girl named Ishara living in DR Congo. You will experience life through her eyes as you are presented with the decisions that she has been forced to make and then live out the consequences. You and your classmates will raise your hands to vote on the options given to you and the story will unfold based on the decisions you make. At the end of the story, you will be challenged to think about how your own daily decisions can help children like Ishara.
The Challenge: Change for Life
After the presentation, you and your classmates will be challenged to collect change for an agreed upon period of time (usually 60 days) to help children like Ishara who attend the ELI school in Bukavu. All funds will go towards providing meals, education, health care, and clothing for the children and programs that support long-term solutions to help these families move out of poverty. A little bit of change can go a long way! ELI can provide containers to collect the change in your classrooms, office, and cafeteria.
You and your classmates will have the opportunity to take home a bookmark with a specific child's name and picture on it. You will be challenged to do chores around the house or neighborhood to collect money to impact the life of that child and his or her classmates, and to think creatively about other ways you can use your time, care, and energy to make a difference in the lives of the needy in Africa. You will bring your change to school on the final day of the challenge and pour your earnings into the classroom or grade level jar. The challenge becomes really fun when you start a competition between classrooms or grade levels to see who can impact the most lives!
Getting Started
Contact Us: E-mail us at getinvolved@empoweringlives.org or call our office at 909.931.1311 to find out how Change for Life could work specifically at your school.
Paperwork: Download and print this document to give to the appropriate staff members at your school. You may want to start with a specific teacher, leadership advisor, activities coordinator, or principal.
Share the Vision: Bring the Change for Life document to the teacher or school administrator you think would be most excited and be able to make the program happen. Share the vision behind the program and answer any questions they have.
Decide the Best Avenue: ELI would love to do a school-wide assembly and involve the entire student body in this program. If a school-wide assembly is not initially a feasible option, figure out the best way to get the word out. Doing presentations in a specific classroom, or perhaps at a club on campus (click here to learn about starting a club on your campus) might be a better way to begin. Talk with the administration to decide which avenue would be best to start with.
Connect Us: Connect us with the key person at your school who will be making it possible for us to run this program. Send us their contact information and give ours to them. Together, we can start working on the details to make this event happen!
Action Steps
Get the Word Out: Once you have the date in place, start spreading the word like CRAZY! Be creative and make posters to put around campus, ask if you can make announcements in classrooms, and ask to put the info in the school bulletin. Get students excited about the program that is coming to their school!
Get Everyone Involved: After the presentation, make sure that every student gets a bookmark to remind them to be raising funds throughout the month, and that each classroom, cafeteria, and office gets a jar to collect the money in.
Create Competitions: Throughout the challenge, keep encouraging students to be raising funds. Create competitions to make the challenge even more fun. Organize class competitions to see who can raise the most money. Create a competition for the most creative fundraising idea. Create a prize for the winning class! The winners will also be featured on the ELI website.
Ending the Challenge: Arrange to present the funds to an ELI staff member on the last day of the challenge. Have a big celebration to rejoice in the funds that came in. Roll all of the coins that are collected and cash them in so you can present ELI with a check. Return all of the Change for Life containers to ELI.
Send us your Stories: E-mail us the best story from your event. It could be about a creative idea that some students implemented or about the class who raised the most money. We would love some pictures too so that we can post all of your work on our website!
Continue the Momentum: Once the challenge is over, you can still help carry the momentum on your campus. Keep a club going that continues to be involved in raising money to help children in Africa (check out other ways you can be involved on our website). Begin planning for a time to bring the program back to your school the following year. Stay in touch with us so we can keep up our relationship with your school and students!