Herndon High Students To Spend Spring Break Volunteering in Zimbabwe

Two Herndon High School students won’t be going on the typical spring break this April.

Instead, sophomores Savannah Richards and Meron Yohannes will travel to Harare, Zimbabwe, to work with a nonprofit organization that helps children with cancer.

Savannah’s father knows the founders of KidzCan Zimbabwe Children's Cancer Relief, the organization they will be working with, she said. He asked her if she would be interested in traveling to help the organization for spring break and if she’d like to bring a friend, and she and Meron agreed.

All of the treatments for the children at the organization are provided at no cost to them, and the children who receive care there are very poor and cannot afford treatment otherwise, Savannah said.

Both Savannah and Meron have lived in Africa at different points in their lives. Shavannah lived in Tanzania during fifth and sixth grade; Meron lived in Eritrea as a toddler. They’re both excited to go back.

The girls have been collecting donations and funds from friends, teachers and community members since January, and promoting their trip and the cause on Facebook. When word started to spread and their message was put on the Herndon High School website, they started getting even more donations, said Meron.

They have been collecting clothing from infant to teen sizes, school supplies and non-electronic toys, such as soccer balls and jump ropes.

The girls’ friends were surprised with the trip they planned for their spring break, because it isn’t the usual spring break of hanging out on a beach, Savannah said. Meron said they keep reminding their friends about their trip to help raise money.

“We’ve been really obnoxious about it,” Savannah said.

The girls will spend a few days helping however they can in the cancer ward and playing with the children. During the trip they will spend a few days on a safari, before going back to help assist at KidzCan again.

The girls plan to go to Zimbabwe from April 13-26, so in addition to the week they’ll have off for spring break they will take an extra four days off school from their trip. They said they will have plenty of time on the plane to work on school work.

Savannah said so far they have shipped about 30 boxes of goods overseas and by the time they are ready to go they will have shipped between 40-50 boxes of donations to the organization.

They said they need the most help right now with paying to ship those boxes, so they’re collecting monetary donations. Savannah said they will stop collecting items on Friday, April 1.

“We have so much that we take for granted here,” Meron said. She said in Zimbabwe it can be hard just to get necessities like toothbrushes.

To learn more about KidzCan, click here.