We Are The Children of The World
A simple index card and a little color-color… changing the world one class at a time. We start the day with the Prince of Peace P3 class, and use the index card letters out of the pouches we gave the children in the village. Each card has a colorful self-portrait in crayon and a small letter on the back sharing their favorite things, activities and family members. As we show them one by one in this class after our opening circle, they cheer louder and louder for each card. This class is paired with Stevens Creek Elementary School in Augusta. We are improvising since their letters didn’t make it in time, and fortunately the children didn’t miss a beat and look forward to seeing them when they arrive in the mail another day.
We move on to our second school of the day, EP to deliver the collages from Summit Charter School in Cashiers, N.C. I think back to the 2nd graders there receiving the artwork that I brought from the EP P3 students from Ghana. “The Greatest Day”, commented Chase in the 2nd grade after receiving his drawing. He went on to say, “We gave them something, and they gave us something”, a simple yet profound comment as to the power these children feel as they are connecting with a tangible piece of art one-to-one. As we enter the steamy classroom to the chorus of “You are welcome, Madame’s”, I see the pop up books and class picture brought from the U.S. from my last visit displayed on the back wall. The students straighten in their seats lifting their necks to view the colorful collages I hold up during my introduction of the project focusing on our theme of taking care of the environment. Today we share the joy of cutting and pasting to create collages that reflect our role as stewards of the earth. Thank you Chase, and all the other Summit 2nd graders, you inspired the EP P3 classes to work with color in new and fun-filled ways, they especially liked dipping their fingers in the glue! We also learned a few new songs from them with lots of jumping and hand gestures, which we look forward to sharing with you, to once again come full circle in our exchange.
After lunch, we return again to EP and the selected group of students committed to after-school exchanges with us. We complete the letters for St. Andrews School. Sistofe’s letter to Patrick embodies the essence of Children Inspiring Hope, “Tell your friend and your classmates to learn hard so that one day, we should all meet and work together without conflict but we should live peacefully in the world and be the best friends. I am praying that God should bless us to learn so that one day, we should all work together and live happily in the world.” Another student, Vivian, vividly illustrates our vision with a drawing of individual petals of a flower, each with a message blooming larger and larger across the page- “One heart, one people, one nation, we are all one, joy is a flag flying high from the castle of our heart because we are one, We Are The Children Of The World.”