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![\"Andrea](\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/files\/2012\/05\/borelli22412-218-full.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>\u201cI really want to work for a nonprofit on human rights in Africa,\u201d Borrelli says.<\/p>\n
Led by Ambassador John Menzies, dean of the Whitehead School, the 10-day Ethiopian trip was one of several educational journeys abroad the school has sponsored. Organized like a diplomatic mission, the tour visited Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and home of the African Union\u2019s executive branch, as well as three sites of cultural interest \u2014 Lalibela and the cities of Gondar and Axum. <\/p>\n
Borrelli was one of 17 Seton Hall undergraduates, graduate students and alumni who participated. The seminar included preparatory classes and visits with diplomatic officials in Ethiopia, with students required to submit a research paper following the trip.<\/p>\n
But it was a visit to Lalibela Elementary School that prompted Borrelli and some fellow travelers to launch an initiative beyond the seminar\u2019s formal scope. <\/p>\n
The school\u2019s campus of tattered, low-profile buildings provides education to nearly 2,300 students. Its small classrooms have cracked chalkboards, and with few desks nd chairs available, students attend in morning and afternoon shifts. There are no indoor toilets, and the library has only about 200 books. <\/p>\n
Despite its bleak elements, Borrelli discerned a positive spirit. \u201cThe kids really did a great job decorating,\u201d she says. \u201cThey had signs and posters all over the school, saying things like \u2018Be yourself.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The travelers gave school supplies to some students they encountered in Lalibela. \u201cThese kids were so grateful for a pencil, because they don\u2019t have those kinds of resources,\u201d Borrelli says.<\/p>\n
The experience left her wanting to do more. Upon returning to Seton Hall, she and eight others launched a nonprofit organization to support the school. They christened it Mageze, which in Ethiopia\u2019s Amharic language means \u201cto assist another.\u201d Borrelli has served as Mageze\u2019s campus liaison, and along with Kristina Schwab \u201912 started a club \u2014 \u201cEquip. Educate. Ethiopia\u201d\u2014 to increase awareness, as well as raise funds for the fledgling nonprofit. <\/p>\n
Schwab, who met Borrelli on the Ethiopia trip, credits her friend\u2019s passion for the cause. \u201cShe wants to do everything possible to help the kids and Lalibela.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commitment to the project reflects Seton Hall\u2019s mission of producing servant leaders in a global society, says Elizabeth Halpin, the Whitehead School\u2019s assistant dean of external affairs, who was on the Ethiopian trip. \u201cServing this community on their own, taking the initiative to do this as students, is exactly what Seton Hall is trying to instill,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
In January, Mageze\u2019s leaders made the organization\u2019s first donation \u2014 about $900 \u2014 to Lalibela Elementary School. Roxane Turner, M.A.\u201911, a Mageze co-founder, scheduled a trip to Lalibela to deliver the funds in person. The school plans to use the money to have a local carpenter construct bench desks for the classrooms.<\/p>\n
As Borrelli seeks to parlay her undergraduate experience into a career with a larger nonprofit, she plans to stay involved with Mageze.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to go back to Lalibela one day and witness changes that we could hopefully help make,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
Mike Cullity is a reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and a freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andrea Borrelli \u201911 and a group of Whitehead School students and alumni launched a nonprofit to provide Ethiopian students with much-needed supplies.<\/p>\n