Getting to Know You.... or Not
Dearest Bloggers,
Since I did not contact anyone as of this moment, I went to the website www.childhoodpoverty.org and read about Laxmi, a sixteen-year-old girl from the Tonk district of India. I was startled to find that all though she has not been "sent-off" yet, she was married at the age of ten. Her family is waiting for her husband to be able to support her. In the mean time, she bicycles to the next village to go to school. Her parents are considered progressive because they support her education. She has made it to class X when other girls from her village at best complete number V.
I am reminded how blessed we are to be Americans. We complain when our children have to walk to the stop sign to catch the bus when this child bikes to the next village. Her parents are considered well-off because they own goats and are able to have a small harvest. We are well-off if we own a $300,000 home and two cars in the driveway. Laxmi's parents did not even buy her the bicycle. The Indian government gave it to her for earning high marks at school. It really makes one think about one's own life and what we take for granted.
At www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php I was able to listen to Irma Allen from the Swaziland Environmental Authority which is like the EPA in the U.S. It was so interesting to think about having nature as one's classroom every day! No building! We strive every day to bring nature to our rooms and these children have nature as there classroom where the importance of it is stressed in everything they do. They have the natural landscape as their personal science lab. The trees, grass, water, dew, and insects inspire in their students the love of land and of their native country.
Since I did not contact anyone as of this moment, I went to the website www.childhoodpoverty.org and read about Laxmi, a sixteen-year-old girl from the Tonk district of India. I was startled to find that all though she has not been "sent-off" yet, she was married at the age of ten. Her family is waiting for her husband to be able to support her. In the mean time, she bicycles to the next village to go to school. Her parents are considered progressive because they support her education. She has made it to class X when other girls from her village at best complete number V.
I am reminded how blessed we are to be Americans. We complain when our children have to walk to the stop sign to catch the bus when this child bikes to the next village. Her parents are considered well-off because they own goats and are able to have a small harvest. We are well-off if we own a $300,000 home and two cars in the driveway. Laxmi's parents did not even buy her the bicycle. The Indian government gave it to her for earning high marks at school. It really makes one think about one's own life and what we take for granted.
At www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php I was able to listen to Irma Allen from the Swaziland Environmental Authority which is like the EPA in the U.S. It was so interesting to think about having nature as one's classroom every day! No building! We strive every day to bring nature to our rooms and these children have nature as there classroom where the importance of it is stressed in everything they do. They have the natural landscape as their personal science lab. The trees, grass, water, dew, and insects inspire in their students the love of land and of their native country.
