Light up Rwanda

Callaway groups host fundraiser for Bright Light campaign

A cooperative of several Callaway County groups and businesses is asking for help from area residents to help enhance education for children in Callaway's sister community of Kibungo, Rwanda.

Fulton Rotary, the Callaway County chapter of the Mizzou Alumni Association, the Fulton Sun and Sir Winston's are hosting Light Up Rwanda, a wine tasting fundraiser 5:30-9 p.m. Feb. 28 at Sir Winston's. Proceeds will support the Bright Light Campaign to provide solar lamps to students in the primary sixth grade level who would not otherwise be able to study outside of school.

In December, Rwanda Community Partnership founder Bob Hansen said the sixth grade is crucial because it is the year before they take their national exams, which determine whether they will go on to secondary school.

"Students in remote areas don't have the luxury of studying at night," Hansen told the Fulton Sun at the time. "We're trying, in a way, to even the playing field by giving them more opportunities to read."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.