The African Student Association (ASA) is hosting a school supply drive from January 2nd to February 3rd for Ejiyan Ekiti Community Nursery and Primary School, a school in Ekiti State, Nigeria, which burned down a few months ago.

“It’s very dull. There are not a lot of decorations, and they don’t have a lot of supplies,” says Obehi Aigbedion, the president of ASA. “An elementary school should look colorful—a student should want to come in.”

ASA is collecting lunchboxes, markers, crayons, folders, backpacks, pencil pouches, notebooks, erasers, agenda books, and classroom decorations. Items can be purchased via Amazon Wish List or deposited in collection boxes in the Media Center and outside the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Ejiyan Ekiti Community Nursery and Primary School is incredibly important to its community. “Most kids in Nigeria go to private schools or international schools because the public schools just don’t get a lot of funding, so this school tries to remedy that,” says Ava Adelaja, vice president of ASA. Ejiyan Ekiti School, Obehi adds, is full of kids “from the local village…[who are sent there] because they don’t have any money to send them to well-funded schools.” Since it burned down, community members have started rebuilding the school, but they still lack many materials.

Obehi learned about the school from her mother, a close friend of one of its founders. She took the issue to ASA: “I know my school—we are big on fundraising [and] helping the community. So, what [ASA] decided to do was create a drive here.”

This drive is also an opportunity for ASA and the wider Good Counsel community to connect with Nigeria. Ava says, “Nigeria [has] a very collectivist culture—it’s a big family. And since we are over here and they are over there, I don’t want there to be this separation between us and them. We are still students too, and we have a lot of resources here.” She continues, “To be able to share that, the values I grew up in of having a community and doing things for that community—I still want to do that even if I am not in Nigeria.”

ASA’s current goal is 300 items, but they believe the Good Counsel community can easily surpass this goal. If Good Counsel collects many more items, they plan to find another school to donate to. They are also in favor of an extended relationship with Ejiyan Ekiti School. As Ava says, “It doesn’t just have to start and end with the drive.”

ASA also plans activities and a performance for Culture Week, including a fashion show and a cultural dance. Contact Obehi ([email protected]) or Ava ([email protected]) if you are interested in participating!

The Amazon Wish List can be accessed here or at the QR code below.