Lights Out at Spence School

This past school year, the International Issues Club at Spence wanted to choose a really interesting project that would capture the attention of middle school students. We spent days looking into different cool things World Connect is doing, and we chose to support a project that would help provide electricity for the Bishop Abiero Girls' Secondary School in rural Kenya. By funding the construction of a wind turbine, we could give students the opportunity to study at night and use a computer lab. The project was named Advancing Girl Power with Wind Power.

Our first thought was that we needed to raise awareness at Spence about the difficulty of conducting school without adequate power. We hoped to give the Spence students a feeling of what it is like at the Bishop Abiero School. We did this by organizing a day at school where electricity would not be used. So for one whole day, all the lights and electronics were turned off throughout the building. The reaction we got from many of the students was complaints about how difficult it was to work without light and computers, and how much they take these things for granted. Judging from that response, I think we succeeded in raising awareness!

Once we had the attention of the middle school students, we then needed to raise the funds for the project. We decided to have a glow in the dark wristband sale, which the students loved. By the end, we had raised $373.00! The Spence students were able to empathize with the girls at the Bishop Abiero School since we are both all girls schools, which I think helped engage their interest. This year, we hope to continue supporting projects that will help improve the lives of children around the world!