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O Ambassador Student Profile: David Woulard

In the winter of 2008, David Woulard wrote a song about stopping the violence against children in Chicago.

Photo courtesy of Phoenix Military Academy

For most students, the long, silent walk to the guidance counselor’s office means trouble. But for high school junior David Woulard it serves as a pleasant reminder of the time his two counselors helped him go on a life-changing journey to Tanzania as part of O Ambassadors annual International Volunteer and Leadership Trips.

David attends Phoenix Military Academy, a recently revamped high school that rose from the ashes of a West Side Chicago Public School. Once known for gang fights and student indifference, the new academy is turning things around with a Junior ROTC program and plenty of extracurricular activities to keep students busy.

David epitomizes this new spirit. A talented guitarist and singer, he also participates in rowing, tumbling and cheerleading, and is the leader of the school’s Brotherhood club, which motivates young African- and Latino-American males to pursue higher education.

A Life-Changing Opportunity

In the spring of 2008, O Ambassadors representatives Garrry Norman and Michel Chikwanine visited the academy to talk about trip opportunities and to challenge students to become globally-aware citizens. Inspired by their message, David performed a song for Garrry and Michel after the assembly. The song moved them.

“It brought a lot of tears to the room,” recalled Garrry about David’s anti-violence song. “The song does not blame people … it says that we all have to come together for everybody’s sake … what’s great about David is that he wants to use his talent to share a message.”

At his counselor’s recommendation, David applied for a trip. He received a scholarship to pay for the trip from O Ambassadors, but still needed $300 to cover expenses. Money was tight at home, and David felt it would be unfair to ask his mother to make up the difference—so, he kept the acceptance and scholarship a secret.

David Woulard's first love is alternative music. But he enjoys the Junior ROTC for the discipline it instills in his life.

After learning of the shortfall, the O Ambassadors’ team reached out to David’s counselors, Darci Keyser and Dana Mackey. Not wanting David to miss out on the opportunity, they convinced the school to cover the remaining cost.

The Journey Begins

David spent 16 days in Tanzania, building a school for a Maasai tribe while drinking in the rich culture of the region and eating, well, lots and lots of meat and eggplant.

“I ate the food, but I didn’t really like it,” said David. “But I could never let anyone see that I didn’t like it because it was my plan to keep everyone sane.”

For some of his fellow American travelers, the Tanzanian experience initially proved overwhelming—no TV, no Internet and no hamburgers or fries. David often found himself as the group’s voice of reason, calming down his fellow travelers with old Maasai tribal sayings, mixed with his own words of wisdom.

Read David's allegory, "$2 Person"

“David is a natural leader,” said Alexandra Clemmensen, the group’s team leader in Tanzania. “He’s got charisma and an innate ability to understand people. There is no false pretense with David. When he talks, people listen because what he’s saying is coming straight from the heart.”

Eventually, the group rolled up its sleeves and got down to work. They made the bricks, mixed the cement, and set the foundation for the skeleton structure that would soon morph into a small school.

“There were so many different levels to building the school that it was really tiring,” said David. “We honestly didn’t think we would finish but we did and I was proud of us.”

Throughout the journey, David was struck by the friendliness of Maasai kids, many of whom would go days without eating when their family needed to ration their limited food supply.

“We live check to check here,” said David. “But they live meal to meal.”

Coming Home

As David rode the train back from the Toronto airport to his hometown of Chicago, he realized his world perspective had forever changed.

“I looked at everything differently. I had been in the desert and then I looked around and realized how we take so much for granted.”

After high school, David wants to join the army and one day ”... write the most influential song ever written.” He’d also like to return to Tanzania and see how the area has changed.

“If there hasn’t been any progress,” he said, “then we’ll know there is still more work to be done.”