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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2004)
Aggielife The Battalion \(K the Page 6A * Thursday, February 26,2d Save the children Two students take day care project out of classroom, into Honduran village re k THI By Jimmy Hissong THE BATTALION When attempting to contact project partner and classmate Jose Mahomar, Robert Furr must pass over the contact numbers in his cell phone for a Hispanic engineering firm, two Catholic mission aries and the office of Honduras’ first lady Mahomar, a senior finance major and native Honduran, and Furr, a senior management and infor mation systems major, are currently working on a plan to construct a day care center in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, as part of a class assignment. Students enrolled in the three-hour interna tional studies course led by academic instructor Dr. T. H. Kwa are asked to participate in a newly- formed global perspective project designed to impact international communities and Texas A&M’s community. “Basically, the project guidelines are relative ly loose. The project has to tie the international community and the University. Beyond that, it’s their own creativity that limits them,” said Susan Mallet, program coordinator for the Academy for Future International Leaders. The proposed projects range in size and scope. “When I first started thinking about things to do, I came up with the idea to build a school in somewhere of need. I’ve had an interest in Latin America, but the idea pretty much seemed like a long shot,” Furr said. By February, Furr’s long-shot idea had turned into a blueprint. First conceived for the spring 1998 semester, the Academy for Future International leaders pro vides an opportunity for student leaders around the A&M campus to gain an international per spective on current and future local and interna tional affairs. Eighteen applicants are chosen from A&M’s nine colleges. These 18 students meet every Thursday evening to discuss topics from global security to energy consumption Varying vantage points and various back grounds allow participants to observe a number of views on a single topic. “I try to get students to fertilize their own ideas with the viewpoints of others,” Kwa said. Degree plans and academic classifications are the beginning to the diversity around the table. A number of the speakers hail from different parts of the globe so to add to the international experience. “But the classroom discussion and the speakers are just part of the academy,” Mallet said. The students are also paired with an international mentor and encouraged to participate in one of many international opportunities the academy provides. Possibilities for student projects are presented before an international board composed of the mentors who aid students throughout the semes ter. These mentors are leaders from business, industry and public service. Many are presidents and vice presidents of corporations with interna tional appeal. This board of mentors evaluates the international and local appeal of the students’ proposals. “Robert Furr kind of came to me with the idea for a school, but wasn’t real sure where to go from there. I thought it was a good idea too, and start ed asking around when I went home for the Christmas break,” Mahomer said. The first step was finding a potential location in need. Mahomar contacted people who would eventually lead him to the site for the proposed project. Mario Orlando Salinas Avila, president of one of the boroughs of Tegucigalpa, offered a plot for the future location of Furr and Mahomar’s project. It was determined that a day care center would better suit the needs of the area. With no place for children to go during the day, parents are forced to either give up working and stay home or leave the children at home unattended. “Much of the area is subject to extreme pover ty,” Mahomar said. “Something like (a day care center) would definitely help, but money is such a big issue.” After contacting two Catholic missionaries in Honduras, Father Juan Matoses Torres and Father Luis Lopez Martinez, Mahomar and Furr were able to establish liaisons between A&M and Tegucigalpa. The missionaries would oversee the February 26 (TR) - Ryan Vaughn 27 (F) - Circle in a Square, www.circleinasquaremusic.com March 4(TR) - Seth Woods, www.sethwoods.com 11(TR) - Zach Hendrick’s /CD release party www.zachhendricks.com Spring Cleaning Sale wetsity B °o£« Aggie Unlimited Off ~ Campus in Aggidand www.shopaggieland.com Northgate Culpepper Plaza ▼ JLJLA4Hlk2j|L wh/ wwb/JL CU Post Oak Mall Take 20% off the ticketed price of all merchandise in stock until March 14th. This offer does not combine with other coupons or discounts other than those where the merchandise has been reduced on the price tag. Most sweats and many women's clothes have previously been marked down 40% on the tag. Take an additional 20% with this offer. All in stock items qualify in any department, including textbooks, calculators, and school supplies. Many sweats and women’s wear have been reduced 40% on their ticket already, plus now get 20% more in savings. Volunteers survey the future site for the day care center project spearheaded by two A&M students, J« Mahomar and Robert Furr. construction and handle finances. The only miss ing factor was money. A Honduran engineering firm has estimated the construction costs to be 285,000 lempira, or $15,800. Raising funds has consumed the majori ty of Furr and Mahomar’s participation in the con struction of the Honduran day care center. “The mentors we’ve met through the academy serve as an excellent contacts for corporate dona tions, but we would also like to involve local busi nesses and ultimately, the students in the process,” Furr said. Armed with photographs, contacts, an engi neering estimate, location, official endorsement from Honduras’ first lady and an approved project proposal, Mahomar and Furr are ready to embark on their capital quest. “It would be nice to organize fund-raisers that involve international students as well as local® dents to give the project all the more ofanii national appeal,” Furr said, “The money n« for this project isn’t overwhelming. Ifonlyone three students were able to contribute a dollan the project, our needs would be more than met" Mahomar and Furr intend to meet theirfk cial goals by close of this spring semester, that point, the construction of the day care ceiiii can begin. “It would be great if this was the beginninfi something. Maybe academy projects in t could follow up on this one,” Mahomar saidfi like to go and visit the (day care) center Tegucigalpa some day. It would be really neat somehow we were able to physically displayit Aggie symbol or something showing the spirit somewhere on the center.” acente lows ml d jud'es "1 that e\ attome in far ®olvt www.TE}C4S)EiAlLLOF'FAivfE:.iVET O 979-822-2222 Hall off Fain 25 Years In Inat-Collete Station! t# Jai . All tickets $8 at the door . With Special Guest: SPEED TRUCKEl m $4 01 JS e s* BQ ♦ TICKETS $10 /V ADVANCE AT CAVENDERS, A Baskins, and ift HALL ♦ Tickets $12 ai\ THE DOOR ♦ Tickets os Sa NOW! 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