Agriculture Students Help Kenyan School

Students in Dorothy Farias¿s spring Agriculture and the Modern World (AG 101) course and Food Marketing and Agribusiness Management club raised about $250 to help build a drinking well for Madioli Primary School in Kenya.

The well, which was built in December by the nonprofit The Water Project, provides fresh drinking water to the students as well as supply water for their families. Cal Poly Pomona students raised about half of the money needed for the project.

¿My students really wanted the money to go towards helping children, since they are the biggest victims of hunger,¿ Farias says. ¿They were excited that there was a project that not only helped children, but also helped a school become better functioning and allow for more students to attend and get an education,¿

AG 101 classes are not traditionally service-based. However, one of the topics the course covers is world hunger and the factors that cause it. Farias¿s students were passionate about the topic and wanted to give back.

¿I am so proud of my students and their interest in looking beyond their own lives to help those in less fortunate circumstances,¿ Farias says. ¿I would like to make this a regular portion of the AG 101 curriculum and am currently working with other instructors of the course to implement more service-oriented projects, both locally and abroad.¿

The project has convinced some students to continue their philanthropy.

¿I particularly like this project, because it allows students to follow its progress online,¿ says Jessyca Berbos, a student in Farias¿s class. ¿After the project has been completed, you are then able to view pictures of the exact well that your class's contribution helped build. Being able to see the smiling faces of the people in Kenya has inspired me to become involved in more charities and projects.¿