DHS students advocate for human rights

BY ANNA HERKAMP

DANVILLE May 13, 2008 06:25 am

— A new club at Danville High School is continuing a legacy first established by one of its graduates.
Formed with about 50 students this spring, the DHS Tostan Club’s members want to make a difference in the lives of Africans.
The Tostan Club takes its name from the organization that Molly Melching, a DHS alumna, began after working in developing countries for many years.
She first visited Africa when she was studying abroad in 1974 as an exchange student with the University of Michigan.
Melching joined the Peace Corps after college and has worked with many rural African villages to increase education and living standards. She began Tostan in 1991.
The word Tostan means “breakthrough” in the West African Wolof language.
One of Tostan’s many programs involves ending the practice of female genital cutting and forced marriages in some cultures.
The DHS students want to be a part of these efforts. To that end, the group is raising $4,000 it will donate to Tostan as a sponsor for a Senegalese village.
Once the sponsorship is established, the DHS students will be communicating regularly with members of the village.
The group would like to present its check to Melching next fall, when she’s scheduled to be in Chicago to accept an award. If there’s time, she’ll stop in Danville to speak with students and accept their check.
Those in the club are excited to be a part of something that reaches beyond their surroundings.
“I can’t believe it,” said Kelbi Ervin, a ninth-grader in the club, “people my age getting cut like that.”
The practice has dropped off in many areas since 1997 due to Melching’s efforts and the work of others like her, but aiding human rights and heightening the development of African countries is an ongoing goal for the group.
Ervin and fellow club members hope the club continues and other schools take on the cause as well.
“It’ll be a big deal,” Ervin said.
Sophomore Lauren Drennan agrees.
“I believe human rights (activism) should be an important part of people’s lives,” she said.
Too often, people her age don’t take the time to find out about crises going on in other parts of the world, she said.
Her generation is more absorbed in its own pursuits of materialism and their own lives, she explained.
“I’m not a person absorbed in what my generation has become,” she explained.
Getting involved in causes like Tostan makes Drennan feel she’s accomplishing something — instead of sitting around.
The DHS Tostan Club is freshman Alora Swick’s first foray into clubs at school. She loves getting a chance to help people.
Although Danville is far away from Senegal, the aid the students will send will close the gap between the Danville teens and the Senegalese.
“You can make a difference anywhere,” she said.
Ervin and Drennan also said they hope the club draws positive attention to Danville, and that their school will be an example to others.
The club is discussing fundraisers that will take place this summer.
Carley Strader and Lesli Lenover, both freshmen, plan to organize a car wash and cafeteria can recycling program.
Other ideas include a benefit concert and bake or rummage sales.
“It’ll be really cool if we raise enough money,” Strader said.
The Tostan club began when World History teacher Ted Houpt was looking for efforts his students could participate in.
Tostan seemed like a good fit.
When he discovered Melching’s involvement, he decided it was an ideal organization to support.
Melching has communicated with Houpt and club co-sponsor Mark Bacys several times. She’s also expressed an interest in having DHS kids participate in some activities with her — possibly even in Senegal.
“She seemed really ready for this,” Houpt said.
FYI
For more information on the human rights organization Tostan, please visit http://www.tostan.com/.

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