That is why Peace House Foundation, a national nonprofit organization based in Minnesota, provides education to children orphaned by AIDS in Tanzania.,”

According to a United Nations AIDS report, 980,000 Tanzanian children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.

That is why Peace House Foundation, a national nonprofit organization based in Minnesota, provides education to children orphaned by AIDS in Tanzania. In January, Marquette students Erin Sheehan and Adrienne DePorre started the first student branch of the national organization here at Marquette.

Sheehan, a junior in the College of Communication, came up with the idea while she was studying in Rome last semester, after meeting a student from Boston College who had an internship with PHF upon returning to the United States.

When Sheehan expressed interest in the organization, the student put her in contact with Karen Peterson, secretary of PHF, who helped Sheehan and DePorre found a student chapter at Marquette.

"I'm a pre-med major, so I've always been interested in HIV and AIDS," said DePorre, a junior in the College of Health Sciences.

Kate Kusiak, interim coordinator for student organizations and leadership in the Office of Student Development, said Marquette's chapter of PHF was chartered on Jan. 26.

"If the first student chapter works at Marquette, they are looking to expand (PHF) to other colleges," Sheehan said.

According to its Web site, PHF was founded in 2000. PHF just finished building a school called "Peace House Academy" in Tanzania, which will begin accepting students this year.

The goal is to educate children in Tanzania, specifically in business and entrepreneurship, so they can affect change in their lives and in their communities to "build a better future for themselves," the site said.

While Marquette's PHF has just begun to organize, members are already planning a volunteer trip to assist the children orphaned by AIDS in Tanzania over winter break next year.

"For students to go over and volunteer would be amazing," Sheehan said. "We're going to raise money to get over there and then donate the rest to the school."

While Marquette's other AIDS-related student organization Watumishi aims to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, PHF's mission statement is an extension of the national organization's.

This statement deals specifically with AIDS orphans in Tanzania, Sheehan said.

"They do not have a direct affiliation with Watumishi, but the two organizations have contact with each other, and this could possibly lead to working together on some projects," Kusiak said.

PHF and Watumishi are planning to work together on several events in the spring, Sheehan said.

PHF will have its first informational meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union Room 380.

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