DC Public Schools

HU-ASA is actively involved in community events around the DC Metro area. The pre-existing activities and the contacts we have include; Turning The Page (TTP) which is a DC-based nonprofit mentoring program oriented towards elementary schools in the DC-Metro area. TTP links public schools, families and our community with the aim of ensuring that young D.C. students receive valuable educational resources and a high quality public education. Turning the Page organizes community nights at Aiton Elementary, Benning Elementary, Bruce-Monroe Elementary, Garfield Elementary, Gibbs Elementary, Kenilworth Elementary, King Elementary and Merritt Educational Center.

African Immigrant And Refugee Foundation (AIRF)

We are also involved with the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation. The mission of the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation is to facilitate the effective transition of these affected Africans to the American society and to support their sustainable integration into their new homeland. Thousands of school-aged African children live in the Washington DC area. Trauma due to war, poverty and family separation can be overwhelming obstacles to their adjustment in the public school environment. For many, formal education has never been an option. AIRF designed the Catching Up Project to help these students advance at their own pace- both educationally and in their cultural adjustment- through individualized mentoring. This project is a partnership of the AIRF, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc in cooperation with Montgomery County Public Schools and Public Libraries. The other programs are Study Circles and African Elders Conflict Resolution Project.

The AIRF is still a fledgling organization and we have a lot to do in terms of logistical operations to really capacitate all the people that qualify for assistance from AIRF. Since its inception AIRF has recruited heavily from the Howard University African Students Association. We have enthusiastic HU-ASA volunteers within AIRF. This is particularly because the AIRF cause has a direct impact on us as Africans and members of an African organization. HU-ASA is working on a partnership with AIRF, very similar to that which we have with TTP, in which we will, on particular days, attend the schools these kids go to and also bring them over to Howard on educational and mentoring visits. We believe this will nurture a caring relationship between our HU-ASA mentors and these African children. This is the most important element we try to bring in our partnership with AIRF because it has been our experience that providing moral support for the children is more important than just trying to act as their school teachers.

Book-and-Clothing Drive

We are also, currently, engaged in a dual book-and-clothing drive. Both drives are gaining much momentum and receiving a lot of support at Howard. It is our hope and belief that this year will have us raising books which will help usher in an avenue of reading and learning for many people who otherwise might not have this opportunity.

We are involved in a clothing drive for the on-going humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Rather than fold our arms and engage in “intellectual” discourse regarding the matter, we have decided to take a proactive stance regarding the issue. Taking our own initiative, we have initiated a clothing drive for people in the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps in Darfur and other disadvantaged people within the region of Sudan.

We have come a long way within the space of seven months. This can be attributed to sheer determination and unwavering vision. We can only move forward because regression is not in our vocabulary. In addition to the aforementioned projects we have many more planned in the near future. With the Howard motto of leadership and service as our guiding principle, the Howard University African Students Association is determined to take its community service to heights unprecedented.