Show tickets available but selling briskly
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"The Jackie Wilson Story." the musical
that set box office records when it played at
the 2001 National Black Theatre Festival,
is coming back to Winston-Salem tomor
row and Saturday. And the N.C. Black
Repertory Company, which is making the
shows possible, promised that "The Jackie
Wilson Story" will bring pure joy to those
who are fortunate enough to attend the per
formances. which will start at 8 p.m. in the
Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium on the
ctrfjpus of Winston-Salem State University.
The Black Rep says that "The Jackie
Wilson Story" is a must-see that local folks
don't want to miss.
The Black Rep says no other show in
the history of Winston-Salem has had the
impact that "The Jackie Wilson Story" has
had on this city. The show was sold out
each night during the theater festival.
Thousands of people were turned away.
Chester Gregory II. who stars as the
legendary Jackie Wilson, has been
described as simply magical. His high
energy jumps in the air are mesmerizing
and.have been called tornado-like. The
songs that he sings are the essence of Jack
ie Wilson.
The Lyceum Series of Winston-Salem
State University is co-presenting the pro
duction, which is a creation of the Chicago
Black Theatre Ensemble. The extraordinar
ily talented Jackie Taylor, the founder of
(he company, wrote, directed and produced
the show.
Tickets can be purchased at the office of
the N.C. Black Rep. 610 Coliseum Drive in
Winston-Salem, or by calling (336) 723
2266. All tickets are $35.
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The casf of "The Jackie Wilson Story
Chester Gregory III
Bokonon
from pcif<e A1
fal (maternity, malaria, tuber
culosis, trauma/injury and
general illness sections). Dis
ease-carrying insects have
access to nearly every room
while rain ends up on hospital
beds, many of which lack bed
linens for the patients to rest
on.
Pobe Hospital stopped
receiving money from the
Beninese government more
' than 10 years ago when it no
longer could provide funding
. to the facility. Still the few but
dedicated and trained doctors
remain on staff and continue
- to try to treat those in need,
even with little to no supplies.
"Until you go there you
don't realize how poor it is,
and at the same time you don't
realize how amazing an expe
rience it is when you go over
there and see these people
who are so dedicated and
hard-working like these doc
tors," Bechtel said. "They
have so little but they're put
ting every last effort into mak
ing everything better."
Najmi recalls chickens
hovering near a room where
an X-ray machine was sta- ?
tioned. "Just knowing that we
have an overabundance of
resources and that they have
such a need was overwhelm
ing." said Najmi. who was
humbled by the trip and appre
ciates the opportunity to wit
ness a developing country in
critical stages of transition in
person.
Students spent one week
lodging with a host family in
Benin while attending lectures
and visiting agricultural and
industrial sites and schools
over the course of the five
week trip. A United Nations
(UN) Economic Summil was
being held in the region and
the students were able to
attend that as well.
Bechtel stayed with a small
family of four that included a
young couple, their small
infant and a grandmother in a
small one-bedroom house with
no kitchen. Some days elec
tricity was available and meals
are cooked outside over a fire.
"One of the main things
you see when you go to a hos
pital like this is you see ill
nesses that are not chronic but
they're acute and they can't be
treated because they don't
have the right things. People
don't die of heart attacks or
high blood pressure; they die
because they have tuberculo
sis and malaria, things that we
here in the United States don't
even think about." said Bech
tel, who hopes to return to the
region to do some sort of med
ical work.
This annual trip to West
Africa serves a dual purpose
of exposing the WFU students
to Third World living and also
as a yearly homecoming for a
faculty member of the univer
sity, Sylvain Boko. Boko,
assistant professor of econom
ics at WFU, was born in the
very hospital that Project
Bokonon aims to serve, and he
leads the summer economics
class of students that travels to
Benin.
"It's clear that there's a
huge, huge disparity between
anything that we can think of
in terms of facilities here and
in a country like Benin. Benin
is only a typical example of a
developing country." Boko
said.
Boko said he was "pleas
antly surprised" when the stu
dents decided to raise money
for Pobe Hospjtal. although
Project Bokonon is not the
first fund-raising attempt for
the facility in Benin.
Before the students left
Benin, they went back to the
hospital to speak with the
small staff of health-care
workers about their urgent
needs.
"It's overwhelming. It's
good to see. It's not something
that I did initiate; it was really
them initiating it and it's good
to see," Boko said. "I hope
that it serves to inspire them
somewhat. I was born there
and I grew up there. There's
nothing in my background that
could have predicted that I
could be sitting here today."
Originally Bechtel and
Najmi intended to raise $500.
but since the bulk of the fund
raising got under way in Feb
ruary. close to $2,000 has been
donated by WFU students and
staff. Both students hope to
extend the fund-raiser to the
rest of the local community
with the hopes of being able to
purchase medical supplies by
the time Boko and another
group of students return to
West Africa in May/June of
this year.
"(Project Bokonon) can
serve as a steppingstone. I
thinf, if anything, this will
just expand. Our university's
motto is "pro humanitate" (for
humanity), and it has pretty
serious commitment to that,"
Najmi said.
Bechtel. Najmi and other
student organizers for Project
Bokonon welcome money and
further ideas for the fund-rais
er. They all hope that Project
Bokonon can be perpetuated
once a service trip is estab
lished by the university with
the sole purpose of delivering
money and supplies to Pobe
Hospital in Benin.
To make a donation to Pro
ject Bokonon, contact Brett
Bechtel at 758:6226 or Rosita
Najmi at 758-1488 or e-mail
p rojtct bokonon @ Hotmail, co
m.
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Wake Forest students man a donation drop-off site on the school's campus.
ESR
from page A4
nomic literacy. The Winston
Salem Foundation also collab
oratively helps fund the IDA
program, along with the Kate
B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
and the Mary Reynolds Bab
cock Foundation.
The Winston-Salem Foun
dation is a community foun
dation that supports charitable
programs in Greater Forsyth
County. It was founded in
1919 by Colonel Francis Fries
with a $1,000 gift. In 2001.
the foundation paid grants of
$18.3 million, including $3.5
million in 138 local discre
tionary grants.
The foundation's ECHO
Fund (ECHO stands for
Everyone Can Help Out) is a
$2.5 million granting source
put in place for five years
beginning in the year 2000
and specifically earmarked for
funding projects that build
social capital, which has been
defined as "people coming
together to strengthen the fab
ric of their community."
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