Last summer I received letters from 20 or so students at Sihlengeni High School in Zimbabwe. They were looking for pen pals here in Canada. Early in September I dropped them off for Shelley Beleznay at John Barsby Community School. She chose to give them to one of her Grade 10 classes, an intensive reading and writing class that prepares students for the Grade 10 provincial English exam.

The students showed strong interest in connecting with kids in Zimbabwe and their interest soared after I was able to visit them to show pictures and tell stories about the school and the students they would be reaching.

As they wrote their letters and talked among themselves, they decided they wanted to do more than just write letters. They wanted to make a difference. So they came to Mrs. Beleznay with an idea. They wanted to organize a series of bake sales during the semester to raise money so they could do something special for the Zimbabwean students and their school.

As some of you know our high school Rotary Interact Club has raised over $10,000 for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe but these Grade 10 students wanted to do their own project, something special.

When I wrote to Jimmy Nioni, the Head Master at Sihlengeni High School to ask for suggestions, he said the biggest need was for scribblers (note books). Many of the kids, he said, simply don’t have the money to buy them so they scramble for scraps of paper or simply do without.

So scribblers it is and when the third bake sale is over, the Barsby students expect to have raised approximately $400.That’s going to buy a lot of scribblers. And it’s going to make a huge difference in the lives of a lot of Zimbabwean students, students our Barsby teens will never meet but students with whom they are making a strong heart connection.

This class has once again confirmed my belief in the goodness that lies in all of us. As soon as they were given the opportunity to connect with students on the other side of the world and as soon as they were aware of the needs those kids have, they found a way to help and they are doing it with rampant enthusiasm.

“It’s obvious that this is a great thing for the Zimbabwe students,” I said to Mrs. Beleznay, “but what’s in it for our students?”

“It proves to our kids that they have the power and ability to make a difference,” she replied. “It’s something we seldom get to see as vividly as these students do when the letters go back and forth.”

When I dropped off the latest batch of letters from Zimbabwe last Thursday, the classroom discussion focused around how lucky we are to be living here in Canada and all the things we take for granted here, things that would be a luxury in Zimbabwe. One of the girls in the class got two letters and commented to me that she had something in common with both of the girls that had written to her. All three of them have lost both of their parents.

It’s interesting to note that our Grade 10 class has become known around the school as the cookie and cake class, the class that is helping students in Zimbabwe. Last week as they began to prepare for their final bake sale, students in the cooking class approached them and offered to pitch in too. So between our kids, their parents and the cooking class, there is going to be some good eating at lunch time next Tuesday in the lobby at John Barsby Community School. You’re welcome to drop in for a treat.