Global Business Club to Host Maji Shule Festival

In March 2014, FSU student Jason Moxley went to Uganda to work with a non-profit organization known as Water School. On the week of November 3, Frostburg State University will welcome Water School Uganda representative Jamez Muzinga for the school’s first Maji Shule Event. Maji translates to Water in English, and Shule translates to School. When talking to Jason Moxley, who is the Chairman of the Business Club, he explained that he was, “Impacted so much by what they were doing,” he knew that when he came back, he wanted to share the incredible experience he had. While in Uganda, he was introduced to Jamez Muzinga, who is the program officer in charge of site locations in Uganda for Water Schools.

Water School is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing simple, clean, and sustainable water and sanitation solutions to developing countries. Over three million people die each year from poor access to drinking water, one and half million of those being children. This is where Water School comes in. They work in not only Uganda, but in different countries as well, teaching schools and villages how they can gain access to clean water with safe sanitation. While talking with Jason, he pointed out that if they can teach one village, that village can continue teaching even more villages. Water School is unique in company and sponsorship, because the more people learn about them, the more they want to get involved. Everything that is donated to Water School goes directly to the cause itself.

The idea and the creation of this came from Jason’s visit, and has been in progress throughout the entire semester. He explained how much he wanted to bring an international experience to Frostburg, and he hopes that with the Maji Shule Event, people and organizations will want to help in whatever way they can. The Maji Shule Festival begins on Monday, November 3 and runs through Friday, November 7. Different events will be held each night, and during these events, people will be taken through different aspects of Ugandan lifestyles and what Water School means to them.

Monday and Tuesday will focus on Water Schools, and will involve various activities, which Jason hopes will bring the campus together as one. On Monday, they will be constructing two water buildings, with Sodis, which stands for solar water disinfection, stations. These tippy-tap hand-washing stations will be created out of natural resources. A presentation will then follow with more information, and then a trivia game will follow that, based on the information in the presentation. On Tuesday, there will be a Jeopardy-style African culture and history trivia event. The Geography and College of Business clubs are helping to sponsor these events.

On Wednesday, almost all of the FSU sports teams are participating in the relay event. Frostburg’s athletics department is very excited about these events as well. When speaking with Jason, he said that in Uganda, women do most of the work, and said that they “walk on average five miles a day,” and he wants to relay that to the Frostburg community. In the Maji Relay, athletes will be taken through personal experiences, and the day-to-day lives of Uganda residents. There will be two obstacle courses set up, one for the women, and one for the men. The women will have to retrieve the water, and the men will have to retrieve the food. Jason hopes these events will help spread awareness, and show what they have to go through on a daily basis. He wants other students to feel like they are, “Creating the concept of FSU supported villages and schools.” On Thursday, people will be able to make sports equipment, as children in Uganda have to do, and Friday is the Maji Shule main event, where they will talk about future plans, and how to get further involved. Stations will be set up on both days, displaying what they have done during the previous events.

The money made from the Maji Shule Event will go directly to Water Schools. Jason would like to involve the entire Frostburg community in this event and thinks that this could become a Relay for Life during the Fall semester. He explained that, “My hope is that more organizations want to be a part of this in the future.”

Jason had many people and organizations he wanted to thank for helping to support the Maji Shule Event, such as the Center for International Education, the Global Business Club, the College of Business, and the Geography Club. He also wanted to give a special thanks to President Gibralter and the dozens of other organizations that helped make this a reality for both him and Frostburg.

For more information or to donate to the cause please contact Jason Moxley or donate directly to the cause at the upcoming events.