Sometimes it is hard for me to recognize that I make a difference in people’s lives. I shy away from praise, I make “excuses” for what I do in Malawi, attributing my trips there to my love of adventure and my friendships with my Malawian friends. It is often my friends, colleagues and the parents of my students who point out to me the value of what I do for the girls in Malawi.
Today was a very proud one for me. For the past few months I’ve been teaching my grade one class here in Toronto about the similarities and differences between their lives and those of the children in Malawi. We’ve read books, looked at photos, watched videos and explored artifacts from all over Africa. The children have done a lot of inquiry based learning about this topic which is so close to my heart. We looked at several aspects of life from food, shelter and clothing to toys, school and chores. I gradually noticed a class of 6 and 7 year olds who went from finding humour in the plight of an 8 year old girl with only one set of clothing to a group of children who began to note their own good fortune. Over the past few weeks I would often hear comments about how the kids in Africa would like to have this toy. Children even went as far as to insist that parents help them clean out their closets so that our girls could have more clothing. A few children even brought toys to share with the African girls.
Today, on the final day of school for the children, I was presented with a cheque for $200 from 8 families in my class. The children had obviously gone home and shared with their families that which they had learned. I was truly honoured that these families support my passion and appreciate the lessons I taught their children. Thank you to all of you and what a great feeling as a teacher to know that something I have said actually reached the children.
I am very proud.
