School
Students dig the buildOn experience
Despite hours spent in the hot desert sun making cement bricks, digging through the hard-cracked ground, and manipulating steel bars to reinforce a school’s foundation and infrastructure, students from Boston Community Leadership Academy, Community Academy of Science and Health, and Excel High School were still smiling.
This year, a group of more than 20 students from select Boston schools traveled to Senegal for some eight days in June to help construct a school as part of the buildOn program.
“The work was intense. But it all paid off when we saw the villagers’ smiling faces,” said Fabiola Michel, 17, who attends CASH.
The nonprofit organization buildOn allows teens and adults to help spread education throughout the world by erecting schools. So far, buildOn says it has helped put up over 520 schools in developing countries.
“This is the best experience I’ve ever had,” said Ngoc Vu, a 17-year-old student from Excel. “The feeling you get when you are helping people is the best feeling in the world.”
To prepare for the job, volunteers had to go through various workshops throughout the school year, including volunteering at a homeless shelter and cleaning parkland.
“The workshops were very fun, and they helped us get involved with the community,” said Manica Thelusca, 17, who attends CASH.
After hours on the work site in Senegal, students were allowed to explore the village. During this time, they could get henna tattoos, play games with the local children, wash clothes, and take showers.
“The bond that we built with the villagers was unbreakable,” said Michel. “This was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will cherish forever.”
Jamal Young was a participant in the buildOn program.
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