The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Class donations spur development, one ox at a time

By Annie Chin

Students learned last semester that even a country halfway across the world is never too far to help.

Students from last fall’s Politics of Developing Nations course pooled their money to help a village in the African country of Niger. Collectively, some of the students donated $460 of their own money to buy an ox to be used by villagers.

Professor William Miles of the political science department, who taught the course, will bring the money to Africa during spring break.

The political science department matched the money the students raised. The students originally intended the money to be used by one village. With the match, the students collected enough money to help two villages, one in Niger and one in Nigeria.

Miles has done scholarly research in villages in both countries, and completed Peace Corps work in Niger in the late 1970s.

“The class project does not pretend to help an entire country,” Miles said. “But to at least help some extremely poor and disadvantaged individuals within a given community, inside that country.”

One class member stressed the importance of paying attention to the poor overseas.

“For me, I think initiatives in Africa are important because it’s one of the poorest countries and most poverty-struck,” said Esther Chou, a middler international affairs and biology major.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, while Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Most people in these countries live on $1 per day, Miles said.

Miles first taught the course last spring. Students in that semester’s course donated their money to buy furniture and supplies for a school in Niger.

The new students decided to create a project of their own, which mirrored a plan by Heifer International, a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty.

The proposal suggested that the money from the class initiative would fund an animal that would be used by all members of the village, especially people who are too poor to afford their own ox, Chou said.

In countries like Niger and Nigeria, where few can afford cars, Miles said ox are used for transporting goods and plowing land.

The students created this developmental initiative with the guidance of their professor. Anonymous surveys were created for students to express their opinions and interests on the project. This allowed the students to be as involved as they wanted to be.

“A lot of our class was centered around the issues directly pertaining to our development project, so it was cool to come up with an idea, and see if it could work in the village,” said Kristin Moul, a senior international affairs and human services major.

The donations were anonymous, so no one in the class knew how much a person gave or even who donated money.

The matching funds provided by the political science department made it more of an incentive for students to give a higher amount of money, students interviewed said.

However, John Portz, chair of the political science department, and Miles made sure students knew it was optional. They said they did not want students to feel pressured to give money if they could not financially do so.

The extra money the class received from the political science department came directly from their budget, which is provided by the university.

“Seems to me, it’s a nice way to try and make the learning experience more real for the students,” Portz said. “To have something they can connect with in a more concrete way. It’s a nice addition to the curriculum.”

Miles said the students in his class wanted get involved.

“This being Northeastern, with practice oriented education, the students wanted to do something, not just study the context of acting in the development,” Miles said.

Although the class ended, the project is still a work in progress. The proposal was written and signed by the students to a teacher in Niger. The teacher made suggestions to modify the proposal because oxen are not used communally in one of the villages.

“The proposal was rejected by the village,” said Dan Taylor, a middler political science major. “It was not in line with their custom.”

The money will still be used to buy oxen. However, it will be raised and fattened in order to sell it. The villager who helped raise it will get half of the profits, while the rest goes back to the class. How the class will use the money has not been determined yet, Miles said.

Taylor said he hopes this will turn into an ongoing program, where students reuse the money to keep helping villages in Africa by providing oxen for more of the villagers.

“I think the money should be used in the spirit it was originally intended,” he said.

There is no intention to end the project, though. Most class members continue to keep in touch via Facebook and e-mail, students said.

The class, which is currently being taught, will be offered again in the fall semester.

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