LEWISTON — Students in the spring semester western civilization class at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College were given an unusual assignment by the instructor, Dr. Barry Rodrigue.

As part of their graded course work, six groups from the class had to select and develop a “solidarity project” that would be presented to the entire class at the end of the semester

The following projects were presented: Aid to Chechnyan Refugees, to help those displaced by that country’s fight for independence; the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center, to help raise donations for courses there; Aid to Bosnian Refugees, to help those uprooted from the ethnic conflicts of the 1990s; Project Heifer, to help purchase farm animals for needy families in Third World countries; Afghanistan Assistance, to help people displaced by the recent war; and Romanian Orphans, to help orphans in that country.

The class members, who had raised more that $220, decided to help the people closest to home and donated the money to the Multi-Purpose Center. Students in the class have sought donors to fund some of the other projects and have received a donation from the Christian Fellowship of New Gloucester to assist the Romanian orphan effort.

Any individual or organization interested in providing financial assistance to one of the projects can contact Barry Rodrigue at 753-6574 or [email protected].