By Brian Zanzonico
The 1993 graduate of Malverne High School has either sold or given away all his possessions, stocked up on mosquito repellent laced with DEET and is preparing for life in khakis. He isn't embarking on a Hemingway-esque safari or seeking the meaning of life. He is looking to start an education revolution in a Third World country.
On June 5, the middle school world history teacher will leave for the Rapid Academy, a school in the rain forest region of Kumasi, Ghana, to begin a two-year quest to weave technology into the fabric of the Ghanaian education system. Through his recently founded nonprofit organization Project Global Village, he will team with the nonprofit Help A School Project to create a global network of instructors to connect with students using videos or laptop computers.
"In Ghana, there are Internet cafes popping up all over the place," said Solomon, 30, who teaches at Glades Middle School in Pembroke Pines, Fla. "I want to incorporate that technology into education."
Solomon said the goal of Project Global Village is threefold: to secure the donation of computers from companies such as Apple for at least one school and help the teachers, as well as the students, become computer literate. "I'll train them to be better teachers and show them how to use technology as an educational, as well as a supplemental tool," he said, explaining that he'll live with a host family for six weeks before looking for his own rental.
Solomon also hopes to convince teachers around the world to videotape their classes and send the tapes to Ghana to be archived and broadcast to local schools that have electricity. Eventually, he'd like to have live streaming video fed into the schools from classrooms in countries thousands of miles away.
"I started getting passionate about Africa after seeing 'Hotel Rwanda,' and read an article about actor Don Cheadle, who played Paul Rusesabagina," Solomon said. "He said as much as they need and want food, they need and want teachers."
"Hotel Rwanda" is the story of Rusesabagina, the manager of a Rwanda hotel who helped save Tutsi tribe members from slaughter by rival Hutus in 1994.
Solomon has little concern about communicating with his new neighbors. English is the main language in Ghana, a former British Colony. But to be certain he has all his bases covered, Solomon has been studying up on Twi, an African dialect spoken in the region.
Once he establishes a technology program in Ghana, he plans to move on. "My goal, my dream, is to move east," he said. "To have some type of deal and set up a company and rebuild some schools. They will have to start over eventually. Why not be part of the team?"
He hopes to end up in Darfur, Sudan, where government-sponsored genocide is killing off black Sudanese. The Sudanese government is using Arab janjaweed militias to destroy crops, poison water and prevent humanitarian aid from reaching the region. Girls as young as school age are routinely raped, and young boys are forced to take up arms.
"I'm very nervous," said Solomon's mother, Shelley, who lives in Malverne. "Some of the places he's talking about going to have a lot going on."
Despite the unrest, Solomon insists he is not fearful of being swept up in a civil war. He does, however, have other concerns. "It's the malaria that scares me," he said. "I've got my yellow fever certificate and typhoid, meningitis, polio, tetanus, Hepatitis A & B [inoculations], and I just took my malaria pills last week."
Recently divorced, Solomon remains close to his ex-wife and stepdaughter, with whom he promised to e-mail regularly while in Africa.
The past year has been a rough one for Solomon, who lost his father and was divorced within a two-month period. The death of his father spurred him to go to Africa. "I don't want to have life pass me by," he said. "This is my dream, and I'm going to go for it."
Volunteering is nothing new for Solomon. He has given his time over the last two years to working with Neighbors for Neighbors, a Miami organization that repairs damage to the homes of the elderly caused by hurricanes. He also spent Saturdays volunteering at hospitals.
During his junior and senior years at Malverne High School, Solomon helped out in Jerry Greene's kindergarten class at the Davison Avenue School in Malverne. He read to ESL students and help them with enunciation. "He was a great student, a standout volunteer," Greene said. "He was very caring, nurturing, and the kids always looked forward to him coming in."
Solomon left Malverne weeks after graduating in June 1993. And he got around, heading first to Myrtle Beach, S.C., then back to New York, south to Florida, then to Ohio for college, and back to the Carolinas to teach. But he missed the heat of Florida and went back. He has been there ever since. Given his destination, he's glad of that.
"I don't know if I'd be able to adapt to the tropical life if I wasn't living in South Florida," he said about the African climate, where the average temperature year-round is 85 degrees.
Project Global Village has received donations from Solomon's friends - many of whom have helped raise money - corporations such as Continental Airlines, which donated the airfare, and educators and businesses in South Florida. But the organization needs more help. For information on making a donation, call (954) 288-0340 or visit www.projectglobalvillage.org.
Comments about this story? Mal-wheditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
