Anthem teen’s service project goes global, needs volunteers

ANTHEM, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - During the pandemic, we learned how powerful Zoom can be as a tool to keep us connected to our friends, family and co-workers. One teen in Anthem uses the app to go global and hopefully get an A+ in class.

Aiden Thatcher, a senior at Boulder Creek High School, is a proud Jaguar. “I think here, there are so many inspiring individuals who really are passionate about what they teach and really encourage students to reach out and do something more,” said Thatcher.

With that support and help from an organization called Meaningful Teens, Thatcher co-launched ‘Project Kuunganisha’ four months ago with his friend Alexia Shafran, who lives in California. The service project allows English-speaking teens to teach the language to students in Kenya over Zoom. “Project Kuunganisha means ‘connect’ in Swahili. And so I really think that’s what we’re doing, is we try to connect,” he said.

He said it took about eight months to coordinate the project. He later asked his teacher if he could continue his project for a class assignment and receive credit. Eventually, the project evolved into bilateral tutoring, meaning tutors can also learn some Swahili and Kenyan cultures.

Brooks Horne, a tutor and high school student in Pine Top, is grateful for her experience. “It really has been amazing to see how much students in Kenya have grown, but I have also loved that while I’ve been teaching them, they’ve been teaching me as well,” said Horne.

Thatcher said the project expanded unintentionally. “People from, you know, Europe started joining. People from Asia started joining. We have people from Indonesia. We have somebody from China and Thailand. We have a few tutors from India, one from Pakistan,” said Thatcher. “It’s really become global. And that’s really cool because it just fosters this sense of a cultural-international unity cause we’re all young people and we’re all growing up in this changing world. But we can see that we’re just teenagers. We’re just hanging out.”

With fun activities, they form friendships. “We talk about education. We talk about climate. But we’ve played like ‘truth or dare’. We’ve played 20 Questions. We just play silly games to try and get to know each other,” he said.

Thatcher said they have ten Kenyan students and about ten volunteers tutoring them. However, they need more tutors. He explained about 200 teens signed up to tutor, but most never followed through.

He hopes more teens or college students can sign up with Meaningful Teens to volunteer. “It will change your life. I have had so many tutors or participants on all sides say how grateful they were to just have the opportunity to be connected around the world and open their eyes to what’s out there: the beauty and the harmony that exists,” he said.

The Zoom sessions are every other Saturday starting at 10 pm (MST). They last about 45 minutes. The next session is on Aug. 19.

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