Maison Shalom Club at Walter Johnson HS

Shiima Nantulya, a Walter Johnson High School student, started a club called Maison Shalom, which aims to raise money and awareness about the refugees of the Rwandan genocide. The club’s name means house of peace in French and Hebrew.

The club’s main focus is to help refugees who escaped the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and came to the city of Burgundy looking for a place to live, and food to eat. That's when Marguerite “Maggy” Barankitse opened a shelter where refugees could go to, to receive: food, water, shelter, and medical care.

When W.J student Shiima Nantulya went to visit Burgundy in the summer, she saw the mission that they had achieved and took action at her school. Some of the main ideas of the club include utilizing concession stands for many indoor sporting events to raise money for the children from Burundi.

Their intentions include but are not limited to, a clothing drive, restaurant fundraisers, posters around the school, as well as having an announcement on the daily lineup, and creating an Instagram account, to raise attention to this mission. Their largest goal is to raise money, collecting 25,000 dollars by the end of the school year.

Throughout the entire project, they keep in touch with a patient, who is sick and can not leave the hospital. After months of healing, and keeping in touch with him, he gave her updates on how he's been doing. “I talked with him and he's doing much better. He's up and walking, and we're all very happy for him, “ said Shiima, at Wednesday's meeting. The kids of the club come a few times every week, during lunch, to help Shiima, and contribute to the cause.

The links of this organization are https://www.maisonshalom.org/ and https://www.instagram.com/wj_maisonshalomclub/?hl=en