Organizers hope to raise awareness about Giving Back Africa with benefit

This evening the IU African Students Association is sponsoring a formal benefit dinner to raise awareness and donations for the nonprofit organization Giving Back Africa.\nGiving Back Africa is a service educational group that helps the people of the Congo and gives college students the opportunity to volunteer there.\nSophomore Axelle Atchade said she just wants people to come to the event, because it doesn’t matter who you are or whether you are from the Congo, because the heart of Africa affects everyone.\n“Congo is located in the center of Africa,” said Atchade, who is also the president of the African Students Association. “If it is in turmoil or war, it affects other countries and nations, like the resources you get, like oil, are from Africa. It’s really important to help out; it benefits worldwide and not just the Congo.”\nAtchade passionately expresses the importance of the event taking place from 6 to 9 p.m. this evening in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center aiming to bring awareness to Giving Back Africa.\nTickets will be sold at the door at a cost of $10 for students and $20 for nonstudents.\nThe goal of $3,000 in donations and ticket sales is small but necessary to help the Congo, Atchade said. \nThe event is sponsored by the African Students Association as part of an educational initiative for donations to continue awareness for the ongoing need to help the development of Africa.\n“Giving Back Africa provides more educational opportunities for students in the Congo,” Atchade said. “There is an orphanage they sponsor, and they sponsor students by having them commit two years after they graduate to service in the Congo.”\nShe also said money raised will aid the government and other necessities Congo needs.\n“The Congo has gone through a really hard time and it has caused the country to be in terrible condition,” Atchade said. “Many areas don’t have any opportunities to go to school.”\nGiving Back Africa strives to provide schooling in areas where students cannot afford education.\nAtchade said she hopes at least 150 people come to the event.\n“We are providing more awareness for Giving Back Africa and the Congo because a lot of people don’t know or hear about the Congo and that it is desperately in need,” she said. “They need all the money and donations they can get.”\nA four-course African meal will be served, so attendees will be able to learn about African life and the organization, Atchade said. \nAnn Thomson, an adjunct assistant professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, grew up in the Congo and helped bring the foundation of Giving Back Africa to the IU campus with her husband.\n“I feel deeply committed to keeping Africa on the radar screens – it’s easily forgotten,” Thomson said. “The Congo is one of the countries that is not in the news much. Giving Back Africa will give us the opportunity to tell our role and have our story to educate the public.”\nOne of things that will be discussed at the dinner will be Congo’s wealth and how the Congolese people could better benefit from it. \n“I hope people will come away from the event with a greater appreciation for the Congo and the people, that is most important,” Thomson said. “That is most important.”