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Raise the Wage protest held in Dallas Wednesday

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Pashinski, Carroll and Mullery support Gov. Wolf’s proposed budget; Kaufer does not

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Kihinga George traveled all the way from Tanzania to Boscov&#8217;s on Wednesday and got a new necktie.</p><p>Boscoving and buying a tie weren&#8217;t the only reasons Kihinga was in town. But it sure was one of the most fun events on his itinerary.</p><p>The bond between Wilkes University and Kihinga was obvious.</p><p>Kihinga is a 21-year-old soon-to-be pharmacy student from a rural village &#8212; Nyaishozi &#8212; in Tanzania, on the eastern side of Africa. Kihinga is one of four Tanzanian students sponsored through the Wilkes University student-run public relations agency Zebra Communications.</p><p>Jane Elmes-Crahall, Wilkes professor of communication studies, said Kihinga became an orphan after his parents died of AIDS. Zebra Communications has sponsored Kihinga for the last four years and the students who have raised the funding necessary for the sponsorship finally got the opportunity to meet him.</p><p>Kihinga arrived Tuesday and will be here for two weeks. His visit is sponsored by Linda Winkler, Wilkes University professor of anthropology and sociology, and private donor Ed Meehan.</p><p>Elmes-Crahall said the program, called &#8220;Embrace a Child in Tanzania,&#8221; began in 2011. It provides tuition money to students in Tanzania where the opportunity for an education is not guaranteed.</p><p>A group of Wilkes/Zebra Communications students had lunch with Kihinga Wednesday at Rodano&#8217;s on Public Square. They then took him to Boscov&#8217;s to buy NEPA-weather-appropriate clothes. That included a new suit, shirt and tie for him to wear to a wedding next Saturday.</p><p>Accompanying Kihinga on the shopping trip were Amanda Kornak, of Dallas; Emily Kramer, of Harrisburg; Marcus Leaf, of Reading; Rachel Leandri, of Wyoming; and Evan Willey, of East Stroudsburg. Another student, Amanda Fulk, of Freeland, met the group at Boscov&#8217;s where she is interning.</p><p>You could tell this was a big deal to the students &#8212; to actually see the person they have been helping for four years, to meet him, get to know him and to see how much he appreciates all they have done for him.</p><p>These students have held fundraisers to raise money to pay for Kihinga&#8217;s education. Sometimes, when you participate in fundraising events, you don&#8217;t get a feel for the cause &#8212; you don&#8217;t get to actually see who you are raising the money for and how it benefits that person or persons.</p><p>I asked each student what it meant for them to be able to meet Kihinga, get to know him and have fun with him. Here&#8217;s what they said.</p><p>&#8226; Leandri: &#8220;It&#8217;s everything. It&#8217;s a great feeling to get to know who you have helped, to be able to actually see what you are doing for someone else. He&#8217;s going to college because of us.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Willey: &#8220;We&#8217;ve been communicating with Kihinga for more than a year, but we haven&#8217;t had any personal contact. When I saw him for the first time, my face lit up. This is so exciting.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Kornak: &#8220;At Zebra Communications, we focus on the real experience. This is a global thing. To have Kihinga here makes the reality of this project come into focus.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Kramer: &#8220;It&#8217;s indescribable. There are no adequate words to describe it. This will definitely stay with us for the rest of our lives.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Leaf: &#8220;This has really opened up my eyes to the benefits of helping someone else. Kihinga is the first person in his family to go to college. Just being able to help send him off to school is incredible. Seeing him here makes me feel so good. It&#8217;s very humbling to just be around him.&#8221;</p><p>The students understand what they are doing with this program. They know if it weren&#8217;t for their efforts to raise money, Kihinga wouldn&#8217;t be going to college. He is very grateful.</p><p>The soft-spoken student said the entire experience has made him &#8220;very, very happy.&#8221;</p><p>Kihinga plans to finish school, become a pharmacist and stay in his home country to help other people. He has earned top scores in high school and is now poised to begin university in Tanzania. And he had one message to offer.</p><p>&#8220;I hope that my friends here keep helping more people like me,&#8221; he said.</p><p>As he tried on his new shirt, tie and suit, Kihinga thought about the things he will do. On Wednesday, he had his first-ever French fry. He will soon experience his first pizza and ice cream. He will go to the movies, attend classes and go boating. He will travel to New York City and to western Pennsylvania with Wilkes students.</p><p>On Wednesday, he and his Wilkes friends who have supported him got to know each other. He even learned how to tie his new necktie.</p><p>And I got the feeling the ties between Kihinga and his Wilkes friends will never be broken.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O'Boyle</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_OBoyle_Columnshot-1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O'Boyle</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100815Kihinga1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kihinga George, a student from Tanzania, looks for a dress shirt to go with a suit that Wilkes University purchased for him at Boscov&#8217;s Wednesday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100815Kihinga1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Kihinga George, a student from Tanzania, looks for a dress shirt to go with a suit that Wilkes University purchased for him at Boscov&#8217;s Wednesday afternoon. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Meeting between Wilkes students and Tanzania native was a long time coming