by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers

The old school, made of mud and sticks, was literally disintegrating.

"You could see right through it,î said Eagan resident Joel Glaser.

Glaser is one of several volunteers who traveled to Africa in April to help build a new school for students in a remote village in Kenya.

Glaser made the trip to honor the memory of Howie Stillman, a journalist and former camp counselor of Glaser's who died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 23.

Stillman was a free spirit, Glaser said, a very energetic, personable and enthusiastic young man who influenced a lot of people.

"He was one who would see a need and act on it,î he said. "He was full of life. He was fun and inspirational, and he was there as a mentor for me when I was 11 or 12, which is a tough time in life.î

Less than a month after Stillman's death, he said, a group of his friends founded the Howie Stillman Young Leadership Fund to keep his memory alive.

The fund awards journalism scholarships, supports charities and presents a leadership award to a high school senior each year. Glaser was the second recipient of the award. The 2006 recipient is Charlie Smith, a senior at Henry Sibley High School.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Stillman's death, so the fund's committee wanted to do something big to honor his memory, Glaser said.

"It would be really easy to just send money (to a cause),î he said. "But we thought, wouldn't it be amazing to have a school halfway around the world in Howie's name?î

So volunteers from the committee and members of Stillman's family traveled to a farming village in the Kipsigis region of Kenya through Free the Children, a children's rights organization.

The village's school, which is made up of several buildings, is in such bad shape that many families keep their children home to work on the farm, he said.

"The parents want their kids to be educated, but they figured they weren't getting a real education if animals could walk right into the classrooms and rain could come in,î he said. "They thought their time was better spent in the fields.î

However, farm land in the village is running out, he said, which makes school a necessity for the next generation.

"They have to be educated because there's nothing for this next generation to do if they don't get an education,î he said.

For 10 days, the volunteers hauled stones and mixed mortar to build a new classroom and teachers' quarters for the village, which has no electricity or running water.

They originally planned on constructing just the two buildings, but after learning that it would cost about $100,000 to rebuild the entire school complex, the volunteers committed to raising the money. They also wrote a check to fund three month's worth of school lunches for all the students in the region after the government funding ran out.

"The kids weren't eating lunch, and that was one of the only truly nutritious meals they were getting,î Glaser said.

Because Howie was a journalist, the group is also establishing a journalism program at the school. That's especially important in this village, he said.

"For many of the tribes, their culture is dying off because the illiteracy rate is so high that the customs aren't being passed down in writing,î he said.

One of the students' assignments will be talking to village elders and creating a written record of their history, he said.

Glaser said that seeing the needs of these children firsthand was life changing.

"There's something about the children's eyes you can't describe. They pull you into their souls,î he said. "It makes me want to work harder to make more and give more back.î

Stillman would be proud of the volunteers' efforts, he said, provided they took some time off to have fun with the children in the village. "Howie would be ecstatic. He loved life and wanted you to love life,î he said. "It says a lot that somebody who died at age 23 has such an impact on so many lives this many years after his death.î

For more information on the Howie Stillman Young Leadership Fund or to contribute to the Kenyan school effort, visit www.howiestillmanfund.org. More information on Free the Children can be found at www.freethechildren.org.

Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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