Now that the dust has settled (both literally and figuratively), I have time to sit back and reflect on the events of the last month...The morning of January 14th was a cold, gloomy one in Kuwait. I had woken up about 3 am to the sounds of construction across the street. I made myself a cup of coffee and was mesmerized by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti that occurred just two days before. As I sat and watched the stories, I was shocked at myself. Even though we just finished a unit on the Earth and the rock cycle, I hadn't brought the current event into my classroom. But today, would be different. As I continued to listen to the TV with one ear, I scoured student-friendly websites for a child-centered article about the Haitian earthquake. Thanks to a few student newspapers, I was able to get a few pieces of news for my kids to read.
On this cold, quiet day, my students entered the classroom, a newspaper article on each student's desk and a pointed question on the board... "What can you do to help TODAY?" After reading the articles, my kids opened up their writing journals and reflected on the question. By 8:30 that morning journal entries were written, read, discussed, and my kids had begun a fundraising campaign. Some groups were working on posters, others were creating informational handouts for families, some were reworking our classroom website to share information and include Haiti-donation links, while others made money collection bins.
As the lunch bell rang at 12:30, my first group were grabbing their money collection bins and making their way to the canteen to collect money for the Haitian victims. At their evening play, my kids were on a collection crusade and pressured everyone to open up their wallet and give! By the end of day 1, my students had collected over 125 KD (just over $430). It was surreal.
As the next week arrived, I wondered how the families at our school would take to donating. I had heard that a lot of Kuwaiti corporations would not donate because the beneficiaries were not Muslim. I hoped that this would not be the case. And it certainly was not! The money came pouring in. From parents, coming by our classroom with 20 KD notes ($70), to students offering their lunch money, from envelopes full of $100 bills, to little tikes who offered everything in their "piggy" bank. The generosity was amazing!
By the end of our 2-week collection, my students had motivated the school to action and collected over 3330 KD ($11,500). The Elementary students had collected over 1600 KD, asked the ownership to donate and were greeted with a 1000 KD contribution, and the Middle school and High School students raised the balance. My students were amazed at how much they could raise, but didn't understand the significance until they were given the opportunity to pass the money on to the Red Crescent.
On Tuesday, February 19th, Mr. Mohammed, the International Relations Officer for the Kuwait Red Crescent came to our classroom to collect our generous donation. With my Principal, the school owner, other teachers, and media representatives in toe, my students listened as Mr. Mohammed educated them about the Red Crescent. The students were true inquirers as they asked questions about when and how the money would make it to Haiti, what other good things the Red Crescent has done, and how else they could help. At the end of the presentation, the kids and I had an open-discussion about the days events. My students were shocked that the event was attended by the owner of the school AND the media. But what they were most impressed about was how proud the adults were. One of my students said, "Ms. Angela, all we did was raise some money. Why are all of you [grown-ups] so impressed?" I didn't have a chance to answer. One of my boys, Philo, chimed in. He said that it wasn't just the grown-ups that were proud of us. But he was proud of us. He said that earlier in the year we learned about Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King, Jr.--people who saw injustice and who spoke up to defend others. He said to everyone--we are like those people. "We were one small voice, but when we got together, we made change happen."
I truly have an amazing class this year!
to read the full article as it appeared in the newspaper... click here!
