MUnity to assist students in Africa

Jordan Smith has spent her life creating and organizing service projects. Now taking her cue from actor Brad Pitt, she is breathing life into her latest one.

Smith, a senior business major, in May founded MUnity, an organization to raise money to send African children to primary school.

She got the idea from a comment Pitt made while on a trip to Ethiopia. He mentioned that for only $16, a child in Africa can attend school for an entire year. Smith took this figure and flew with it.

“At first I thought, ‘No way, that’s crazy,’” Smith said.

After researching the comment, Smith concluded that $16 was a valid estimate. Although public education is free, the cost of uniforms and other fixed expenses prevents many students from receiving this free education.

Smith’s goal is to raise $16,000, enough money to send 1,000 kids to school.

“Mizzou is composed of 26,000-plus students. If every student would give one dollar to MUnity, 1,625 African babies would be going to school,” said Benyam Tesfai, an MU senior marketing major who is working with Smith on the project.

So far, MUnity has raised about $1,200. The group is waiting for recognition as an MU organization.

“We plan to actively spread the word through community involvement, campus events and student organizations,” Tesfai said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

On Halloween night, the group was scheduled to go door to door handing out fliers and accepting donations. On Friday, Athena night club will sponsor the group and donate $2 from each person’s cover charge, Smith said. During the holidays, Poppy Fine Art, an art gallery downtown, will allow MUnity to use its gallery for a benefit wine tasting.

“My goal is for people to really have an understanding of how important education is,” Smith said. “The awareness should be inspiring. We sometimes forget how fortunate we are to live the lives we do.”

Smith is adamant that 100 percent of every donation go to the cause and, along with other members, has paid all of the organization’s expenses.

Smith said that because she wants all of the donations to go directly to students, she must bypass organizations that take a cut of the money and find contacts in several East African countries to receive the money and make sure it is used properly.

Tesfai has family in Eritrea and is the primary link to the contacts in Africa. In addition to Eritrea, the countries are Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and Djibouti.

“Currently, I’m in the process of arranging a recipient of our funds,” Tesfai said. “The Eritrean Development Foundation has shown interest, and we hope the EDF board of directors will approve us.”

Organizing service projects have been a major part of Smith’s life for years.

“I’ve always been service oriented,” Smith said.

In eighth grade, she started a book drive for the public preschool and in high school she organized Painting for Pipsqueaks, which painted a mural in her hometown hospital in Liberty. She also planned a book and movie drive for the children’s ward.

“The spirit of service is capable of changing the lives of so many people,” Smith said, “and MUnity shows how we truly can change the world, one child at a time.”