Early in December, the gym at St. Mary’s Collinwood School was filled with sixth, seventh and eighth graders but only one voice could be heard. That voice belonged to Father Donald Dunson, of the Saint Kizito Foundation and professor of Moral of Theology at Saint Mary’s Seminary Graduate School of Theology. The typically chatty group of students was transfixed as Father Dunson spoke of kids their own age living a very different existence.  He spoke of children being taken from their homes and being forced to do unthinkable acts. Boys as young as nine, being armed with automatic weapons and forced to use them against friends and neighbors. Girls no older than fourteen, exchanged and swapped like property, not knowing if they will ever see a friendly face again. Father Dunson was sharing a portion of the horror he has seen in the central African country of Uganda.

Uganda is a country of perpetual conflict. Existing in its current form since 1914, the landlocked nation has known war from within and without throughout its entire history.  Since the 1980s, however, there has been an increase in the use of child soldiers. The main perpetrator of this despicable practice in Uganda is the Lord’s Resistance Army. Started in 1987 by Joseph Kony, this militant group uses kidnapping, executions, forced drug use and other dehumanizing practices to keep their ranks filled with young soldiers.  It is the horror of these actions and the plight of these children, Father Dunson hopes to make people aware of. But more than that, he hopes to inspire action. Through his work with the Saint Kizito Foundation, he has already turned his own awareness into something tangible.

The Saint Kizito Foundation is an organization based in Northeast Ohio that seeks to bring hope, love and the promise of a future to the young victims of Uganda’s pervasive violence. Therapy, education, provision of basic needs, safety, security and sense of community are all provided by the foundation, its volunteers and contributors. 

The students of Saint Mary’s Collinwood are now a part of that effort. Every Friday, the students can take a break from their usual uniforms by contributing fifty cents to the school’s Missions Fund, so they are able to dress down. But they also get something more, they get a sense that even the smallest contribution can make a difference. That idea really took shape after Father Dunson’s presentation when the Student Council presented him with a check for $1000 to benefit the Saint Kizito Foundation. As Dunson expressed his immense gratitude, the junior high students of Saint Mary’s Collinwood saw that a little truly does go a long way.

To learn more about the Saint Kizito Foundation, visit www.stkizito.org