Walk Through Africa

An Educational and Exercise Program to Teach Children About Africa, AIDS and What They Can Do To Help

CHALLENGE
There are three issues of concern:

1. Children should understand more about the world outside their own spheres of reference. People on the other side of the world are affected by decisions made in our own country, in our own communities, in our own homes. Yet, children seem to be insulated towards many of the issues happening outside their own walls, barely recognizing the names of the continents and countries which make up our world. Difficulties affecting people living in those faraway places are also a mystery to many children and youth in the United States.
   
   
2. The rapid rise of childhood obesity in the US is truly alarming and children should be given every opportunity to get outdoors and exercise.
   
   
3. Children should be empowered and given opportunity to help others in need, no matter where they are and no matter how old they are.

STRATEGY
Walk Through Africa is a program designed to address these concerns for students Pre-K to 12th Grade. It combines an educational curriculum with physical activity and service.

1. Students will learn about each of the countries where AFCA works.
   
   • Geography
   • Food
   • Languages
   • Games/Sports
   • Education
   • Music
   • Wildlife
   • AIDS pandemic issues
2. Students will walk, run, swim, skate or participate in any activity that will allow them to track distances covered, with the goal of getting kids out and about. Miles covered will be tallied by school teachers, helping classrooms cover enough miles to “visit” the cities, towns and villages where AFCA works. For example, when a classroom logs 259 miles, this represents the distance between Kampala, Uganda and Elementita, Kenya—two places where AFCA works. As children "walk between cities," teachers can download age appropriate curriculum to teach their students about the regions where they are walking.
   
   
3. Students will be given opportunities to do something for children affected and infected by AIDS. Whether raising funds, volunteering, saving and sending items needed, or communicating with children in Africa, kids in the USA can truly make a difference in the life of children on the other side of the world.

Choose a Curriculum