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UNL student gets Bono's attention
BY COREY ROSS
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Nelson Okuku Miruka is the Paul Revere of the University of Nebraska campus, warning fellow students about Africa's AIDS crisis.
Last week, though, he was more like Revere in reverse. Instead of trouble, the 33-year-old graduate student from Kenya trumpeted what he hopes is the start of a solution.
Nelson Okuku Miruka passes out leaflets about his organization, Save Sub-Saharan Orphans, last week at the Nebraska Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Miruka is largely responsible for Bono's decision to come to UNL to speak today.
"Bono is coming! Bono is coming!" Miruka gleefully shouted Monday while passing out pamphlets in the student union.
Bono, social activist and lead singer for the rock group U2, will be in Lincoln today for World AIDS Day. Actress Ashley Judd will join him for a talk on AIDS in Africa.
Bono's appearance is a big deal for Lincoln - and an even bigger deal for Miruka's group, Save Sub-Saharan Orphans.
The UNL organization has existed for just three years, trying to educate Nebraskans about the millions of orphans in the 19 African countries south of the Sahara Desert.
The group's 15 core volunteers can't afford office space, so they meet wherever they can.
When the group sought a speaker for World AIDS Day, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel and Rep. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska turned it down. Even Lincoln's mayor said no.
"Yes," Miruka said, "we had to settle for Bono."
It was Miruka's phone call to the Global AIDS Alliance in Washington, D.C., that initiated talks for Bono's Lincoln visit.
The work of Miruka's group on campus helped secure the appearance, Miruka said. Bono's people told him they hadn't come across a campus group quite like his.
Miruka founded the organization when he came to UNL to study political science in 1999.
The group's mission is to educate the public and raise money to support African orphanages. Miruka said his group has raised $20,000 this year.
Even when armed with statistics - 6,500 Africans die daily from AIDS and 40 million children are expected to be orphaned by 2010 - Miruka said it's tough to get people to pay attention.
When he does get it, he said he spends much of his time battling stereotypes and misconceptions - that AIDS is predominately a disease spread by homosexuals and that all African aid organizations are corrupt.
"Perception is killing Africans," Miruka said.
Questions of corruption are especially crippling to the group's fund-raising efforts, said Nanga Kayemady, a native of Chad and the group's public relations director.
"Why would we take advantage of people who are coming to help?" he asked, trying to understand people's skepticism.
He said his group sends money directly to four African orphanages to buy food and clothing for 700 children.
Given the magnitude of the crisis, that might not seem like much. But UNL professor Elizabeth Theiss-Morse said that's the beauty of the group's work.
"(Miruka) really believes every bit adds up," said Theiss-Morse, who serves on the organization's board of directors. "He takes very small amounts of money and can turn it into tremendous results over in Africa. It's mind-boggling to me."
Members show an uncommon devotion to their cause by taking odd jobs to make money, she said. Volunteers have worked janitorial jobs on campus and cleaned dishes at local restaurants.
"And what money they make, they send almost all of it to the orphans," Theiss-Morse said. "It's amazing."
But it will take much more money to execute the grandest of Miruka's plans. With the help of UNL's architecture department, Miruka has designed some orphanages he wants to build and staff in Africa.
He carries a picture of African students studying beneath a tree - their only classroom space, he said.
"We want to get those kids out from under that tree," he said.
Africa is also short on teachers, he said. AIDS is devastating the young-adult population, killing many future educators.
"This is wiping out a whole generation of people," said Kayemady, the Chad native. "It will take global resources to save these lives."
Bono's visit won't cure those problems, Miruka said. But it's a start.
What matters most, Miruka said, is what happens after Bono leaves.
"We need results," he said. "We need results."
UNL student gets Bono's attention
BY COREY ROSS
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Nelson Okuku Miruka is the Paul Revere of the University of Nebraska campus, warning fellow students about Africa's AIDS crisis.
Last week, though, he was more like Revere in reverse. Instead of trouble, the 33-year-old graduate student from Kenya trumpeted what he hopes is the start of a solution.
Nelson Okuku Miruka passes out leaflets about his organization, Save Sub-Saharan Orphans, last week at the Nebraska Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Miruka is largely responsible for Bono's decision to come to UNL to speak today.
"Bono is coming! Bono is coming!" Miruka gleefully shouted Monday while passing out pamphlets in the student union.
Bono, social activist and lead singer for the rock group U2, will be in Lincoln today for World AIDS Day. Actress Ashley Judd will join him for a talk on AIDS in Africa.
Bono's appearance is a big deal for Lincoln - and an even bigger deal for Miruka's group, Save Sub-Saharan Orphans.
The UNL organization has existed for just three years, trying to educate Nebraskans about the millions of orphans in the 19 African countries south of the Sahara Desert.
The group's 15 core volunteers can't afford office space, so they meet wherever they can.
When the group sought a speaker for World AIDS Day, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel and Rep. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska turned it down. Even Lincoln's mayor said no.
"Yes," Miruka said, "we had to settle for Bono."
It was Miruka's phone call to the Global AIDS Alliance in Washington, D.C., that initiated talks for Bono's Lincoln visit.
The work of Miruka's group on campus helped secure the appearance, Miruka said. Bono's people told him they hadn't come across a campus group quite like his.
Miruka founded the organization when he came to UNL to study political science in 1999.
The group's mission is to educate the public and raise money to support African orphanages. Miruka said his group has raised $20,000 this year.
Even when armed with statistics - 6,500 Africans die daily from AIDS and 40 million children are expected to be orphaned by 2010 - Miruka said it's tough to get people to pay attention.
When he does get it, he said he spends much of his time battling stereotypes and misconceptions - that AIDS is predominately a disease spread by homosexuals and that all African aid organizations are corrupt.
"Perception is killing Africans," Miruka said.
Questions of corruption are especially crippling to the group's fund-raising efforts, said Nanga Kayemady, a native of Chad and the group's public relations director.
"Why would we take advantage of people who are coming to help?" he asked, trying to understand people's skepticism.
He said his group sends money directly to four African orphanages to buy food and clothing for 700 children.
Given the magnitude of the crisis, that might not seem like much. But UNL professor Elizabeth Theiss-Morse said that's the beauty of the group's work.
"(Miruka) really believes every bit adds up," said Theiss-Morse, who serves on the organization's board of directors. "He takes very small amounts of money and can turn it into tremendous results over in Africa. It's mind-boggling to me."
Members show an uncommon devotion to their cause by taking odd jobs to make money, she said. Volunteers have worked janitorial jobs on campus and cleaned dishes at local restaurants.
"And what money they make, they send almost all of it to the orphans," Theiss-Morse said. "It's amazing."
But it will take much more money to execute the grandest of Miruka's plans. With the help of UNL's architecture department, Miruka has designed some orphanages he wants to build and staff in Africa.
He carries a picture of African students studying beneath a tree - their only classroom space, he said.
"We want to get those kids out from under that tree," he said.
Africa is also short on teachers, he said. AIDS is devastating the young-adult population, killing many future educators.
"This is wiping out a whole generation of people," said Kayemady, the Chad native. "It will take global resources to save these lives."
Bono's visit won't cure those problems, Miruka said. But it's a start.
What matters most, Miruka said, is what happens after Bono leaves.
"We need results," he said. "We need results."
