Recently, I set up a pen pal program between the Rwandan school in our village and several schools in America. Every few months teachers and students correspond, allowing them the opportunity to practice their reading and writing skills, in addition to developing cultural learning and global understanding. Our first letters arrived from America last week. As I read through them, seeing the world through the eyes of an American Tween, I couldn’t believe how much stuff we Americans have. (I also couldn’t believe the intense teenage lust for a certain U.K.-based boyband, but that’s another post.)
To help the Rwandan students write back, I made a list of all the cultural concepts that would need clarification. Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to explain it.
“hot” as an adjective indicating beauty, as in “the hottest one ever”/ fluffy pets/ ice hockey/ baseball/ Justin Bieber/ One Direction/ sushi/ Asian Buffet/ crab/ free time/ flashlight tag/rock-paper-scissors/ American football/ not liking school/ pet rabbits, rabbits not for eating/ Taylor Swift/ BMX biking/ fat cats, as in a PET that has been fed too much food/ cheeseburgers/ fashion/ stairs and multi-story buildings/ Twilight/redheads/ big lockers with room for “ALL MY stuff”/ odds and ends/ wrestling/ drinking fountains/ hunting/ a 12-year-old without “time or patience” to learn a new language/ hexaflexagon?/ Xbox/ ribs/ cross country/ cheese/ golf/ water polo/ mac and cheese/ steak/ the movies/ the mall/ ice cream/ pizza/ snow/ Valentine’s Day/ Thanksgiving/ Labor Day/ Halloween/ tennis/ opening day of gun season/ snowflakes
While I have often imagined how powerful this exercise would be for students in America, I think I underestimated the impact it would have on Rwandans. I knew the exchange would help American students empathize with global poverty, but now I can’t help but wonder how the students here will respond to all this stuff.
Copyright © 2014 Beth Walton – All Rights Reserved
Our penpal project is supported by World Wise Schools, a Peace Corps program set up to help connect American classrooms with volunteers overseas. To learn more about the program globally, visit http://wws.peacecorps.gov/. Schools or teachers interested in partnering with our village can e-mail me.
Abazungu! 