Unlike many of his peers at the University of Pennsylvania, Eddo Kim was not satisfied with using his degree to strive toward achieving a high-paying job. Instead, he believed he needed to truly put his degree to work and focus on a bigger issue.

This aspiration manifested itself three years ago when Kim founded The Supply, a nonprofit organization that aids poverty-stricken communities worldwide. The Supply constructs secondary schools through the process of providing financial assistance and manpower, and largely focuses on slums, according to The Supply’s website.

In response to the organization’s growing popularity and its highly applicable initiatives, Syracuse University created its own chapter on campus. The Supply highlights issues that empowered students to use their education for the greater good, said Ashley Lee, a junior in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and a member of the SU The Supply chapter, in an email.

“I got involved with the Supply because it made me realize that I can use my education to help these children living in slums,” Lee said. “I wanted to create awareness about this issue to students like me who are lucky to have such easy access to education.”

To help create a greater presence on campus, SU’s The Supply chapter is holding a fundraiser on Monday, Dec. 3. The fundraiser will involve distributing platters of chicken and rice to students who pre-order them through the national organization’s website, and the donations will go toward building a secondary school in Matopeni, Kenya, Lee said.

The organization’s slogan of “We are the supply” deeply resonated with Lee, she said. Members themselves supply knowledge and education to slum villages that lack basic means of education, a globally recognized issue.

“We are planning on revamping the SU The Supply chapter by having more interactive meetings and events, such as fundraisers, to get the campus involved,” Lee said. “We want students to become aware that there are children in slums who yearn for the basic education we take for granted, and we can all make a difference.”

The national organization found great success in connecting with university students through the chapter system. More than 75 percent of donations have come from younger individuals, said Kim, the founder.

“We really value college students’ voices and advocacy to make this issue grow into something that matters,” Kim said. “We always make sure we include the young people in the conversation of our work.”

With more communities moving from rural to urban areas, as many as 1.5 million people are forced to live in slums, where they live without basic education, sanitation systems and health care, Kim said.

“Despite being a major human rights issue, these slums are still under the radar,” he said.

Though secondary education is unavailable in many of these communities, more and more slum residents are realizing that education is a long-term solution to poverty. The organization’s vision is to empower local leaders to make decisions for their own community, rather than relying on the Western world to step in, Kim said.

The organization is considering expanding into Southeast Asia, and wants to build 100 schools by 2020, Kim said. Despite being a young organization, The Supply remains dedicated to making sure slums are acknowledged as a serious crisis.

“Slums will always exist,” Kim said. “The question is how do we upgrade them and make them more livable. Empowerment through education is an unstoppable call to action.”

 

Published on November 29, 2012 at 12:54 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu