Melia Plotkin and Sasha Altschuler wore huge smiles and spoke with conviction about their plight to help educate students in northern Uganda before a packed auditorium of sophomores and juniors at La Jolla High School on Jan. 14. Plotkin, who graduated from La Jolla High in 2005, originally had founded the Sister Schools Club of La Jolla to connect with international students during her sophomore year. Altschuler, a senior, now serves as president of the club, along with her activities in drama, singing with the Madrigals Choir and training in track and field. The club became a serious enterprise when Plotkin serendipitously befriended an activist with the Institute for Peace and Justice, who told Plotkin about the need to support schools in northern Uganda. The Sister Schools Club of La Jolla has since raised upward of $25,000 from the community, mostly from parents and students, to support the nonprofit African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF). The Sister Schools Club will launch its next fund-raising drive in March, and will send out pledge forms to students and parents at the middle and high school seeking support. Plotkin has since visited Uganda twice to ensure their dollars were reaching the students and to survey their needs. She went alone on her second visit, and met with officials from the Ministry of Education, which has become a fan of the program. Through surveys, reviewing test scores and conversation, Plotkin found the students lacked math and science skills and the technology to learn them. She said students grew frustrated at having to share one computer screen, and the installation of a projection screen made a huge difference. The Sister Schools Club has also made a significant difference in Plotkin’s life. During her second visit, there were rumors that rebels were returning to the village and Plotkin feared for her life. “I was terrified. I was alone,” Plotkin said. “It put me in the place of these people… The experience made me want to work as hard as I can for them. No one deserves to live in fear that their family will be slaughtered.” Now a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College, Plotkin is studying international relations and psychology, and hopes to continue the aid work in her career. “It really does open your eyes,” Plotkin said. “I know it sounds cliché but I have become more appreciative of each day.” Joshua Kyallo, director of AMREF for Uganda, spoke to the students about his childhood in Kenya, when he walked six miles roundtrip to school, cut bananas and carried water. He briefed the students on the history of Africa through colonial reign and independence and impressed upon them the importance of education. “Because of what you’ve given, lives of young people are being changed,” Kyallo told the high school students. “Please stay engaged.” For more information, visit www.sisterschoolsofsandiego.org.