Those who know Kristi Chan and Julia Appleby are familiar with 3 things: their close-knit friendship, commitment to their religious faith and most importantly, their strong desire to give back all the blessing and privilege life has offered them here at Wake Forest.
Kristi, a sophomore from Charlotte, NC and Julia, a sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, plan to start a Wake Forest chapter of Uhuru Child, a non-profit based in Chapel Hill. The organization works in Kenya to end poverty by building businesses and employment opportunities for adults and by providing secondary education for children. The word “Uhuru” means freedom in Swahili, which is exactly what Kristi and Julia hope to achieve for people struggling with poverty in third-world countries.
Both girls cultivated their love of philanthropy and mission trips early in life. As a first-generation Asian-American, Kristi has a personal perspective on poverty.
“My parents were born in Malaysia and they were born into very poor lives,” she said. “I never realized what was out there until I moved to Malaysia when I was 16 and saw the big discrepancies there and how the poor were ignored and were accepted.”
[pagebreak]
Julia experienced a similar revelation about poverty in the world as a high-school senior.
“I have been on a lot of mission trips and have seen the poverty of life, [in] Kenya especially, since the people are so beautiful, faithful and loving,” she said. “I was really passionate about Kenya and it resonated with me [most].”
Although they are best friends, it wasn’t until recently that Kristi and Julia discovered they shared a desire to get involved with non-profit work, specifically through Uhuru Child. At the Student Activities Fair, Kristi signed up on a whim to work with Uhuru Child. Meanwhile, Julia heard about the charity through Global Missions Fellowship. But it wasn’t until meeting with the same Uhuru employee that the two girls realized they have the same passion for working with the organization. They quickly developed a plan for action and decided to join forces to make the campus aware of a way to once again put “Pro Humanitate” into action.
Kristi and Julia are working hard to let campus know about this philanthropic opportunity: They have hosted information sessions, started a Facebook page, and traveled from one dorm to another to collect money. They plan on traveling to Kenya in May to give back.
“While there, we get [paired up with] a family and live life with that family,” said Kristi.
“If a family walks 3 hours for water, we walk with them,” Julia added. “It may be building a chicken farm or tutoring. We get to see the people and the organization that we will be working for, which will be really amazing.”
[pagebreak]
Though Uhuru Child is not a campus organization, Kristi and Julia would love to join forces with anyone who wants to help raise funds and awareness. They’re working on a barefoot soccer tournament to be held in March and are planning an event in April that will involve students camping out on the quad to simulate homelessness and get people to think about what it’s like to live in poverty. If you’re interested, shoot one of them an email at chankl11@wfu.edu or appljl11@wfu.edu.
Regardless of your interests, Julia stresses the importance of being passionate about something and getting involved, whether it is through tutoring, Campus Kitchen, or volunteering somewhere else in the community. As students living in the “Wake Bubble,” we have so many resources at our fingertips: food, education, help, etc. Kristi is quick to note that we can easily acquire full stomachs by the simple swipe of a card, but unfortunately the rest of the world does not live like that. We can’t take for granted the fact that we are not only at a prestigious university, but we also have so many connections and resources to put ourselves out there in the hopes of helping at least one individual.
“One person might not change the world,” said Kristi. “But if one person changes their choice, it could change another person’s story.”
*Article by Issa Basco