Paper Clips Speaking For Silent Victims
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Del.icio.usWhen St. John Vianney’s eighth-graders graduated last week, they each were draped in a single-strand lei of ... gold paper clips.
“The whole theme of our graduation day is based on paper clips,” said teacher Carlyle Cameron, laughing.“It’s kind of become a class symbol.” In fact, the 25 students have been focused on nothing but paper clips for nearly seven months. Cameron first assigned them to research the genocide in Darfur as part of a current events paper last October. But after all the essays were turned in, she said they still were bothered by what they had learned.
“It bugged them, so they decided they wanted to do this paper clip project. They wanted to create a visual image for the president - to see this is how many people that have died - in the hope of changing U.S. policy.”
Project Paperclip is modeled after a project at a Tennessee school, where students collected 6 million paper clips for Holocaust victims. After the first attempts to collect paper clips door-to-door turned into a bust, however, the St. John students realized just how big a task they’d taken on.
“If you ask people to donate money, they can just reach in their wallet. But to find a paper clip, No. 1 they’re gonna want to know why, which means you have to tell them a story. And No. 2, they’re gonna have to search for one, so that requires effort. I told them it’s going to be an uphill battle and do you still want to do this. They were even more determined, and they’ve just been going, going, going.”
Their personal goal is to collect 300,000 paper clips, one for each person murdered or raped in Darfur, and send a photo of their project to President Barack Obama. As of May 29, their total neared the 200,000 mark, with donations also coming from Le Jardin Academy, Trinity Christian, Punahou and Iolani as well as schools and individuals in Oregon, Tennessee and Kentucky.
“This is actually no longer a part of our regular curriculum. They’ve added more work to their load because they have to be constantly researching,” she explained. “At this age, they’re all over the place, but they’ve really connected with this. And the best part is, it crosses over all subjects - math, religion, politics, history, English, economics, oral presentation and what it takes to work as a team.”
Headed by Zach Busekrus, the class has taken the project to new and unimaginable heights. “We realized how horrible it was and how there was a genocide going on in our lifetime. It was shocking,” Busekrus said, adding that they’ve created a DVD slide show, a website and have shared their message with their peers at other schools around Oahu.
“It’s saddening that there’s people out there that don’t know what’s going on. We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go.”
“We’re only a small school and in eighth grade, and we can do this much just to help these people who can’t be heard,” added classmate Kuulei Rezentes.“If anybody wants to do something, especially if you’re passionate about it, then you can.”
Cameron said that after she and the students leave the campus, the legacy of Project Paperclip will soldier on. As a class gift to the school, all the paper clips have been encased in a Plexiglas monument that now stands in the Peace Garden. Seventh-graders have been trained to add on to what the departing eighth-graders have left, and there’s also talk of spreading the word to other schools.
“That was originally their objective,” she said. “They wanted it to be a student-voiced effort, students educating other students. Once a student finds their voice, anything is possible.”
To learn more or donate paper clips, visit www.projectpaperclipshawaii.weebly.com. Donations also may be dropped off or sent to the school office at 940 Keolu Drive.
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