Getting to Know Your International Contacts
St. Thomas Virgin Island
It is good to have friends in distant places. I have
a special friend named Sheila who attended college with me at Morgan State
University in 1972. Because Sheila had to travel so far and because of finances
she was only able to go home once a year and that was during the summer. I
would invite Sheila to come home with me on holidays and weekends whenever I
went home.
Sheila and I have had a long distance lasting
friendship for 40 years and I consider her my best friend. Sheila graduated in
the education field and is now retired from school. I contacted her about my
class assignment and she directed me to two of her sorority sisters who are
AKA. My first contact person is Lucinda who is a first grade to third grade
teacher and Lucille who teaches kindergarten.
My other international contact is Diana who is from
Columbia South American. She has taught grades 1 – 3. Diana has shared with me
that her country is very poor and that poverty is greater in Columbia South
American than in the United States. Due to poverty there are diseases from
people not eating right. Diana also stated that the children in her country
have a snack period and one hour for lunch. There are no cafeterias the children
eat on the play ground. Lunch is only provided from the school for children who
are very poor and have no food for lunch. All other children are required to
bring their lunch from home. In Columbia students are required to wear school
uniforms, the girls are not allowed to wear pants they must wear skirts, and
the boys wear dark pants and white shirts. If a child’s family cannot afford
uniforms then other parents donate clothing to the needed children. Overall
America is a blessed country, others can see that we are a blessed country,
sometimes we can’t see how blessed we are because we are so busy looking at
what we don’t have instead of being thankful for what we do have.
Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteWow! First, congrats on making contact with a professional from a different country! That is awesome! Secondly, it is sad to hear about the situation in Columbia. I wonder if lunch will be provided to a child who just could not bring lunch one day out of the week, but is able to bring it any other time. Do you think they still provide for that child that one time?
I agree. We are very blessed here in America, but sadly people are complaining more and more everyday. We all need to be thankful for ALL that we have, because they are others who do not have a quarter of what we have. And those people are so happy just to have that.
Rosemary,
ReplyDeletePoverty is an awful issue that influences the world! I was enlightened after learning about the increase of poverty in the United States. Although poverty is on the rise in the US, in comparison to other countries, I agree we are blessed! We have many supplemental resources,(although they need improvement)to help support families. Such as providing free lunch to children during the school day and offering summer lunch programs when children are not in school.
What a great network you have. i would love to become a pen pal with one of their co-workers if possible. Even though Columbia is a country of poverty it was good to see the community come together to help other. Maybe we can learn from this example.
ReplyDeleteYou did great job of networking to find a great contact. I know very little about South America and I enjoyed reading your post. I really like the idea of children wearing uniforms to school because I feel like the clothing children wear can be an indication of those living in poverty and those that are not. It also eliminates distractions that clothing kids wear can cause. I look forward to learning more about South American schools.
ReplyDelete