Before he even reaches his senior year at Shaker Central High School, Brian Hickey plans to head to Uganda in July to deliver text books and soccer equipment to children and even teach a few classes.
Education there is key to help in providing to a lot of kids, he said. `If you get a good education you can get a job and have a lot more opportunities than they have now.`
Hickey, 17, is the co-founder of the Engeye Teen Connection, a group of Capital District teenagers dedicated to help children in Uganda. For two years, Hickey, his brother Greg and friend Sara Weinman, a junior at Bethlehem High School who co-founded the group, have been fronting their own money to help pay for an education sponsorship for three children in Uganda.
Hickey’s interest started after John Kalule, who is the founder and runs Engeye Health clinic, brought back Susan Nabukenya, who had 80 percent of her body burned and was in dire need of treatment. Since there was nowhere in Uganda for her to be treated, in 2008 she was brought to the Boston Shriners Hospital for plastic surgery.
Theresa Weinman, an administrative Coordinator at Albany Medical College, was good friends with the Dr. Bob Paglow, who brought Nabukenya to the U.S., and became involved with getting her help. The hospital said Nabukenya needed a host family in Boston and Weinman said she had a niece in the city.
`I told her that maybe two people from Uganda might be living on their couch for only three weeks,` she said. `It ended up being close to four months.`
Weinman took care of Nabukenya while she healed in between treatments and showed her around the Capital District, which is where Hickey met Nabukenya and Kalule. This is where he first got exposure to the Engeye program and where he was able to interact with Kalule.
`He told us what life is like over there,` he said. `We just learned aboiut how bad the children have it, how little of the tools they have for education and how eager they are to learn.`
The relationship with Kalule began not only the Engeye Medical Clinic, but also the scholars program, which Hickey and Sara Weinman are involved in. It first started when Nabukenya went back to Uganda and send her to a boarding school after finding others to help chip in and raise $1,000 a year for her tuition, according to Elaine Hickey.
`When John got back he indentified other kids that needed help,` she said. `Brian put the web site together and when he did that, he got even more intrigued.`
Sara Weinman had the opportunity to go over to Uganda in February and was able to teach some of the students, she shared her experience with Hickey.
`Once Sara shared her experiences with me, it definitely had me wanting to go over,` he said.
Hickey said he has been to a few countries in Latin America, but this will be his first trip that is not meant to be a vacation and more of a mission trip. He currently works at Fleet feet where he will be using the money he makes there to pay for half of his trip while his parents will put forth the other half. He has also been using that money to sponsor a child named Bena, who he will be able to meet while he is over there.
`It gives me more of that direct connection,` he said.
Elaine Hickey said her son has always been interested in giving back to those in need. She said he has organized donations for soccer equipment for those less fortunate in the past and said that sort of thing makes her happy.
`I love it when teens want to get involved at this age,` she said. `I like they feel the responsibility to give back, the earlier the better.`
Elaine Hickey has been over to Ugana before and is an adviser on the board of the health clinic in Uganda. She said her son was not able to go over with Sara Weinman and her mother in February because Hickey runs track. When they came back and reported that there are no text books for the children at the school in the Ddegeya Village that gave her and her son and project to work on.
`The school is going to have an event when we deliver them,` she said.
The focus now, though, is not just on individual children, but trying to help out entire schools that are in need. Theresa Weinman said there are very little resources at the school in the Ddegeya village, not even windows or doors. Kalule has told them that the school does not need any handouts or money, they need education.
`These kids need to help themselves,` she said. ‘They want the opportunity to better themselves So we’re getting them testing tools and we’re focusing on helping the school.`
Over at the web site http://www.etcbucksforbooks.org/, Hickey and his group are looking for donations so they have the ability to help more children. They currently have raised $5,570 with the goal of raising $10,000.
Hickey said they will also be bringing over medical equipment and some soccer equipment, which he said can go a long way. Even after having to go through all of the different shots for diseases such as malaria and different preparation, Hickey can’t wait to see the look on the faces of the children when they bring over the text books.
`I guess I’m a little nervous at first with some of the stuff,` he said. `If you think about it, though, there are so many risks in the U.S. with traveling, you don’t even think about it. There are diseases and a lot of risks, but it’s definitely manageable and definitely worth risking it.`
If you would like more information on the health clinic visit http://www.engeye.org/, and for more information on the scholars program visit http://www.engeyescholars.org/.“
