The Enactus team at Penn State Altoona is always on the go, immersed in projects locally and abroad. Through these projects, 该组织的成员希望培养领导能力, teamwork, and communication skills, but most importantly, 他们想要有所作为.
Penn State Altoona’s Enactus team has had an ongoing partnership with the Star School in the Masaka district outside of Kigali, Rwanda, for the last five years. As part of the “Beza Project” - Beza meaning ‘beautiful’ in the Kinyarwanda language - students have traveled to the school and built greenhouses, 帮助安装滴灌系统, and facilitated the move from natural to artificial fertilizers used around the school. This year, 这个小组处理了一个沼气项目, which converts raw materials like agricultural and municipal waste into a renewable energy source. The Star School currently relies on burning wood as a fuel source for cooking, spending over $350 a month with the average Rwandan making only $4 a day. 通过完成沼气项目, the school's dependence on wood as a fuel source will be greatly decreased, 积极影响环境, 还有学校的预算. It will also bring the school into compliance with a new government mandate that requires schools across the country to use biogas.
The team was able to raise almost $8,000 over the last two years for the biogas system. Cynthia Wood, 工商管理高级讲师，创行顾问, 还有学生维多利亚·胡西洛维奇, 暑假飞到卢旺达，花了一周时间参观学校. They did not have the skill set or expertise to actually do any of the biogas work themselves, 但他们仍然找到了为振兴做出贡献的方法. “大多数人都在谈论减少你的足迹, 但是当你在发展中国家工作时, 你想要留下影响. 你想说，‘我来过这里，这是我留下的印记.’ I knew we weren't going to be able to roll up our sleeves and do any work with biogas, 但是学校需要一些油漆, so we had a private local donor give the necessary funds to purchase supplies, 维多利亚和我把自助餐厅的墙壁涂成了鲜艳的颜色.” Wood says it’s a joy for her to see how the school has progressed over the course of their relationship, 她很高兴能成为公司发展的一部分. “能够与他们合作，我感到谦卑和幸运. 他们真的让我们进入他们的生活. 这也是我这么多年来一直想回去的原因之一. 现在，我们是他们的家人. They know we come back because we care about them, and they care about us.”
Wood emphasizes the importance of the collaboration that happens between Enactus and the school. Students are able to address opportunities and look for solutions together with school representatives. This gives students a global perspective and allows the team to offer ideas and resources both physical and financial that the school might not have access to. “It expands the school’s network of solutions and gives us experience in another country that we might not get otherwise. 当我们参与这些全球体验时，我们都是赢家.”
Huscilowitc is now at University Park studying corporation innovation and entrepreneurship. 2014年，她和家人一起去了非洲的肯尼亚, 但这是完全不同的, 所以她不确定会发生什么. 但很快，她就感到完全自在了. “When we got to the Star School, the kids were just so excited to meet us. 就好像我认识他们十年了!胡西洛维奇和孩子们一起玩飞盘, 这是他们以前从未做过的事, 还有很多时间和他们在一起. But what really got her attention was seeing the kids standing outside of the school, 那些没办法进入校门注册的人. “I was taking a tour of the nursery school area, and there was a girl outside the fence. She was 3 years old. She couldn't take her eyes off of the school, and there were tears in her eyes. I found out the girl’s older brother and sister both go to the school but her parents didn’t have enough money to send her, too. 我对自己说，‘我要改变这一点.’" The next day, the little girl, Kiessa, 和她哥哥一起来到学校，试着在教室里上课. Huscilowitc说，这个害羞、胆小的孩子马上活了过来. “她一进来就变了. 她和其他孩子谈笑风生. 她满脸笑容地走来走去. 我都不知道那对我意味着什么.” After she saw that, Huscilowitc signed Kiessa up immediately and paid the balance for the remainder of the year.
Huscilowitc called her own mother that night to tell her about Kiessa’s sponsorship. 她的母亲回答说，她会资助一个女孩和一个男孩, to which Huscilowitc said she’d take on another boy to make things even. The next day, Huscilowitc asked the school’s principal for three more children. 其中两个3岁，另一个8岁. “对大多数孩子来说，这并不容易. 他们中的许多人有一个或两个父母都去世了. 这对我来说是一件很难经历的事情, 看看门外有多少孩子, looking in, 拼命想要学习.”
Huscilowitc知道赞助是一件很难的事情, and it is a long-term commitment paying for these children until they are 18, perhaps even beyond. “这是一次非常感人的经历. 我确实有点被自己的情绪左右了. But I was also very aware and knew I had the power to get them to school, and so I did. If I can change the lives of these kids, starting at three and eight years old ... 他们18岁的时候会是谁? 他们可以成为国家的总统. 如果是我给你几千美元，那就这样吧.”
伍德为胡西洛维奇感到骄傲. She was happy to watch her experience firsthand how people in other cultures live and flourish, 以及伙伴关系如何改变生活. Wood says she tries to instill in her students the importance of investing in children’s education, 或者通过与星际学校建立的联盟. She teaches that these alliances shape future leaders and that education is the key for children to succeed in their country and culture. “I thought it was cool that Victoria wanted to sponsor younger children whom she can watch progress. I think that showed that she wants to completely invest in these kids and their futures. 教育很重要，维多利亚也认识到了这一点.”
Huscilowitc is excited to develop a deeper bond with all of her sponsored children through letters, cards, and progress reports. Meanwhile, she carries her adventures in Rwanda with her wherever she goes. “我一直在想非洲. I didn't think my experiences there would be in my everyday life this much. 有时只是步行去上课, I'm wondering what the kids are doing at the school and how things are going. 我现在在那里有关系了，我肯定会再回去的.”
