Towson English Language Center

Congratulations to our Modern Media Class

 

HELPING FAMILIES LIKE BEATRICE'S

The Modern Media class at Towson University, located in Maryland, is made of up international students from around the world who are studying English as a Second Language. This course gives ESL students a chance to apply their English skills to a wide variety of media platforms as well as teach them basic computer/media skills in English. These students read an article about Beatrice Biira and were very inspired by Beatrice’s story. Beatrice was a young girl in Uganda whose life was radically changed when Heifer donated a goat to her poor family. Through sales from the goat's milk, Beatrice's family could eventually afford to send her to the local school. Beatrice then went on to win a scholarship to a school in Uganda's capital and eventually went on to win scholarships to continue her education in America. All because of a goat! These students decided they want to raise money to donate to Heifer International to buy more goats for people like Beatrice. They were very motivated and decided this was an important way for them to put their English and computer skills to good use. They worked together as a class to put together an hour-long presentation about Uganda, Beatrice Biira and Heifer International. They included video clips, photos, music and text in their presentation in order to give their audience a full view of their project. Their initial goal was the to try and raise $360 in order to buy three goats. This was a large amount of money, but the students were determined. They began presenting to different classes around the college campus. The students were shocked that after their first presentation they had already raised $230! They felt like their goal might actually become a reality. They did 8 different presentations on campus, held a bake sale to raise money and placed a donation box on campus as well. By the end of the semester they had raised $880, enough to buy 7 goats and 2 flocks of chicks! The students were thrilled and beyond happy that they were going to be able to help families like Beatrice’s family.

 - Peggy Olson

http://www.heifer.org/whencowsfly/stories/helping-families-like-beatrices.html