HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-LWSSC-rpt.pdf WASPAM SCHOOL PROJECT
For the last two years, members of the Sister City Committee--with support from the
Lexington Public School's Social Studies Coordinator, John Papandonis, and from
Bowman Elementary School teachers--have been visiting classes at Bowman School to
talk with children about life in Waspam.
We are hoping to expand the program this year to more grades, and hopefully to other
elementary schools The Spanish teachers at Lexington High School have also been
very supportive and several of their classes translated a storybook that will be used
in Bowman classes
This year we've also formed a School Advisory Board to give us support and advice on
our program's content and teaching methods
The program is designed to help children come to grips with the realities of life in
a revolutionary third world country In the presentation, one of us role-plays as an
eleven-year-old girl, Maria Elena, who was born in Waspam, had to leave when she was
three years old, and returned home to thick jungle and destruction four years later
As a seven-year-old, Maria Elena is now in the process of helping her town rebuild.
With slides taken by members of the Sister City Committee who have visited Waspam,
Maria Elena tells her story
The children have many questions for Maria Elena--Where do you wash your dishes?
What happened to your family in the fighting? If you have no electricity how do you
know when it's time for school to end everyday? Where do you go to the bathroom? If
the pigs and chickens are just running around, how do know which ones are yours? How
do you fix your outboard motors? What does the Moravian religion believe in? Isn't
the river water kind of dirty to wash clothes in? Do you brush your teeth?
Answering such questions benefits our children in many ways
Global Understanding Understanding what life is like for children in Waspam helps
widen the perspective of our children who have no idea that the rest of the world
doesn't live like we do in Lexington. For instance, we showed a picture of the
clinic in Waspam to a 2nd grade class and asked if they knew what a clinic was. They
were stumped. Eventually, they came up with the idea that it was a place you went to
get better at skiing or tennis. In the future, we hope to explore this issue in
greater depth, thinking also about why some countries are rich and some are poor
Encouraging the Urge to Help Change The Sister City Committee is actively involved
in helping Waspam rebuild. We show slides of 300 lbs of baseball equipment
collected in Lexington being presented to the elementary school teachers in Waspam by
two Sister City Committee members Children hear about the Committee's campaign to
raise money to buy a sawmill for the town so that cutting a board will take two
minutes rather than two hours. Perhaps our involvement will encourage children to
think of ways that they can help improve the world. For example, teachers in several
classes are hoping to have the children make books, translated into Spanish by high
school Spanish classes, to send to the school in Waspam which has a need for primers
Eliminating the Stereotypes of Poor People A Sister City relationship benefits both
cities Can we retrieve something missing from our lives by pursuing our
relationship with the people of Waspam? Seeing the reality of life in Waspam gives
us a new perspective, and helps us consider what is really important to us. The
Lexington children thought about what they would bring with them if they had to leave
Lexington in a hurry, as Maria Elena had left Waspam. They also wondered what games
they might play if they didn't have Nintendo, computers, or Toys-R-Us.
The people of Waspam, rebuilding their town from scratch facing overwhelming
obstacles, can be an inspiration to us in affluent Lexington. Privileged to know
people of such a different culture and class, we will gain a greater understanding
of, and compassion for, another corner of our world.
For more information about the school project, call Marcia Butman at 861-6154.