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We are all familiar with the age-old 1)lamentation of the school child who calls out from the back of the room, “Why do we have to go to school?” Usually when I hear this I stop for a moment and then go into some 2)rote explanation of why education is important. Last spring, however, when I heard it, something clicked in my mind and I remembered that I had just finished reading Stones into Schools by 3)Greg Mortenson and even earlier in the year had completed his Three Cups of Tea. I actually had a 4)brainstorm and thought what a great idea it would be to introduce students here at Pomolita Middle School to Mortenson’s description of the kids in rural Pakistan sitting outside in the cold doing mathematical problems with a stick in the dirt without a teacher in sight.
At the end of the school year I went online to check out Mortenson’s 5)Pennies for Peace Program funded by his international non-profit organization, the 6)Central Asia Institute (CAI). Online I discovered they had recently printed a young reader’s edition of Three Cups of Tea; I considered getting a class set because when I read a novel with my kids, I like for each of them to have a copy so they can follow the story and share the oral reading with me.
I knew I didn’t have the money to buy a class set and surely the school district did not either. So I emailed CAI and asked if they would consider sending me some books for my students. Within a few days I received an email asking, “How many and where do you want them sent?” Weeks before school started this year I had in my possession 35 hardcover editions of the book generously donated by Mortenson’s non-profit. I talked with other teachers at school and found that their excitement about this undertaking was as high as mine, and we decided to do a school-wide service-learning program at Pomolita. My class would initiate the project and then the books would go in rotation to other Language Arts teachers.
I introduced the idea to my students and their interest and excitement were 7)palpable. I showed them a video, and they saw kids in Pakistan going to school, flying kites and just being kids. They were8)riveted. I again went on line to Mendocino 9)Freecycle and asked if anyone had a 5-gallon plastic water bottle they weren’t using. Within two hours I had a response and picked it up that afternoon. The kids have been coming in with big bags of pennies and pouring them into the container, which I can no longer lift.
Each day we read of Greg’s adventures in Pakistan and the 10)tenacity and dedication it took for him to raise the money and build the first school in 11)Korphe. Since the 12)inception of this school, his organization has built more than 145 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan serving over 68,000 students with an emphasis on girl’s education. Why girls? Provide a girl with a fifth grade education and infant 13)mortality goes down, the population explosion decreases and the basic quality of health and life itself improves. An educated mother is much less likely to 14)condone violence; education will help women have the right to land ownership and inheritance; and finally, educated women are more likely to stay home and improve their communities, whereas educated men typically leave to live in cities.
How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in 15)Ukiah, but in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life in a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children; that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. One penny buys a pencil, two pennies an eraser and 15 pennies a notebook. Two or three dollars pays for one teacher’s salary for a day, $20 buys school supplies for one student for a year and $5,000 provides for the support of an existing school for one year.
My students are optimistically 16)embarking on a Pennies for Peace campaign whose goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to broaden their cultural horizons, to learn the value of 17)philanthropy and to become members of a global family dedicated to helping children receive what they are entitled to: an education, a basic human right as proclaimed in Article 26 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
为什么我们要上学?”大家对课室后排学生发出的这句“哀嚎”再熟悉不过了。每每听到这种疑问,我都会停下来,然后搬出老一套说辞来解释学习是如何如何的重要。然而,去年春天听到这话时,我灵机一动,想起才看完的一本书——葛瑞格·摩顿森的《石头变学校》,以及此前老早就读过的他那本《三杯茶》。于是我盘算了一番,心想把摩顿森笔下巴基斯坦农村孩子们没有老师,在寒冷的户外用树枝划地做数学题的故事讲给在坡莫里塔中学这里的学生听,让他们从中领悟一课,那岂不妙哉。
学期快结束的时候,我上网查阅了关于摩顿森的“为和平捐一分钱”活动的资料,该活动由他所发起的国际非营利组织——中亚协会筹办;我还发现他们最近针对年轻读者而出版的青少年版《三杯茶》,便想着要让班里的学生人手一本,因为我喜欢让他们每人手里捧着书跟我一起读,这样他们就可以跟着书里的故事发展,和我一起朗读。
我清楚无论是自己还是校区都没有足够的钱买下一个班级数量的书,于是我写电邮问中亚协会能否考虑给我们的学生提供一些书。几天后我便收到了回邮问:“您想要几本?寄往哪里?”今年开学前的几周,我收到了由摩顿森那非营利机构慷慨捐赠寄来的35本精装本。我把这件事告诉了学校的其他老师,他们和我一样都为这个读书计划而激动,于是我们决定在坡莫里塔中学全校范围内开展服务学习计划。计划从我的班级开始,然后由教语言艺术课程的老师在他们的班级里轮流使用这些书。
我把这个想法告诉了我的学生们,他们明显感到既好奇又兴奋。我给他们播放视频,给他们看巴基斯坦的孩子们如何上学,如何放风筝,做孩子们做的事。他们被深深吸引住了。我又登录免费回收网的门多西诺县小组发布消息,问谁有不用的五加仑塑胶水罐。不到两小时我就收到回应并在当天下午就把它提了回来。孩子们带来大袋大袋的硬币倒到罐里,罐子重得我都提不起来了。
我们每天都阅读葛瑞格的巴基斯坦历险记,并见证了他在科尔飞筹建当地第一所学校过程中的坚韧不拔和无私奉献。自第一所学校建成至今,他的组织已经在巴基斯坦和阿富汗边远地区建成了超过145所学校,让68000个孩子得以接受教育;这些学校都以女孩作为重点教育对象。为什么要重点教育女孩呢?为女孩提供五年制教育,可以降低婴儿死亡率,减缓人口膨胀,改善基本的健康水平和生活水平。一位受过教育的母亲不会再哑忍暴力;教育帮助她们争取成为土地主人和继承人的权利;最后,受过教育的妇女更有可能会留守和改善她们的家园,然而受过教育的男人则往往会离家到城市去生活。
一分钱如何能带来和平?一分钱在尤凯亚买不到什么东西,但在巴基斯坦和阿富汗的乡村地区,一分钱可以买到一支铅笔,开始一段教育,甚至可以改变一个人的人生;因为在恐怖组织肆虐的地区,他们招收的往往是没有受过教育的文盲孩子。一支铅笔可以让他们读书、写字、学习。一分钱可以买到一支铅笔,两分钱一个橡皮擦,十五分钱一个笔记本。两到三美金可以支付一名教师一天的工资,二十美金可以买到一名学生一年所需的学习物资,五千美金可以支持一所学校一年的运作。
我的学生们正积极地参与“为和平捐一分钱”基金会活动,而这个活动的目标正是为了鼓励儿童——我们未来的领导者,鼓励他们拓宽文化视野、认知慈善的意义、成为世界大家庭的一员、致力于帮助其他儿童享有其应有的受教育权,这可是联合国《世界人权宣言》第二十六条宣称的我们都应享有的一项基本人权。
At the end of the school year I went online to check out Mortenson’s 5)Pennies for Peace Program funded by his international non-profit organization, the 6)Central Asia Institute (CAI). Online I discovered they had recently printed a young reader’s edition of Three Cups of Tea; I considered getting a class set because when I read a novel with my kids, I like for each of them to have a copy so they can follow the story and share the oral reading with me.
I knew I didn’t have the money to buy a class set and surely the school district did not either. So I emailed CAI and asked if they would consider sending me some books for my students. Within a few days I received an email asking, “How many and where do you want them sent?” Weeks before school started this year I had in my possession 35 hardcover editions of the book generously donated by Mortenson’s non-profit. I talked with other teachers at school and found that their excitement about this undertaking was as high as mine, and we decided to do a school-wide service-learning program at Pomolita. My class would initiate the project and then the books would go in rotation to other Language Arts teachers.
I introduced the idea to my students and their interest and excitement were 7)palpable. I showed them a video, and they saw kids in Pakistan going to school, flying kites and just being kids. They were8)riveted. I again went on line to Mendocino 9)Freecycle and asked if anyone had a 5-gallon plastic water bottle they weren’t using. Within two hours I had a response and picked it up that afternoon. The kids have been coming in with big bags of pennies and pouring them into the container, which I can no longer lift.
Each day we read of Greg’s adventures in Pakistan and the 10)tenacity and dedication it took for him to raise the money and build the first school in 11)Korphe. Since the 12)inception of this school, his organization has built more than 145 schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan serving over 68,000 students with an emphasis on girl’s education. Why girls? Provide a girl with a fifth grade education and infant 13)mortality goes down, the population explosion decreases and the basic quality of health and life itself improves. An educated mother is much less likely to 14)condone violence; education will help women have the right to land ownership and inheritance; and finally, educated women are more likely to stay home and improve their communities, whereas educated men typically leave to live in cities.
How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in 15)Ukiah, but in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life in a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children; that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. One penny buys a pencil, two pennies an eraser and 15 pennies a notebook. Two or three dollars pays for one teacher’s salary for a day, $20 buys school supplies for one student for a year and $5,000 provides for the support of an existing school for one year.
My students are optimistically 16)embarking on a Pennies for Peace campaign whose goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to broaden their cultural horizons, to learn the value of 17)philanthropy and to become members of a global family dedicated to helping children receive what they are entitled to: an education, a basic human right as proclaimed in Article 26 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
为什么我们要上学?”大家对课室后排学生发出的这句“哀嚎”再熟悉不过了。每每听到这种疑问,我都会停下来,然后搬出老一套说辞来解释学习是如何如何的重要。然而,去年春天听到这话时,我灵机一动,想起才看完的一本书——葛瑞格·摩顿森的《石头变学校》,以及此前老早就读过的他那本《三杯茶》。于是我盘算了一番,心想把摩顿森笔下巴基斯坦农村孩子们没有老师,在寒冷的户外用树枝划地做数学题的故事讲给在坡莫里塔中学这里的学生听,让他们从中领悟一课,那岂不妙哉。
学期快结束的时候,我上网查阅了关于摩顿森的“为和平捐一分钱”活动的资料,该活动由他所发起的国际非营利组织——中亚协会筹办;我还发现他们最近针对年轻读者而出版的青少年版《三杯茶》,便想着要让班里的学生人手一本,因为我喜欢让他们每人手里捧着书跟我一起读,这样他们就可以跟着书里的故事发展,和我一起朗读。
我清楚无论是自己还是校区都没有足够的钱买下一个班级数量的书,于是我写电邮问中亚协会能否考虑给我们的学生提供一些书。几天后我便收到了回邮问:“您想要几本?寄往哪里?”今年开学前的几周,我收到了由摩顿森那非营利机构慷慨捐赠寄来的35本精装本。我把这件事告诉了学校的其他老师,他们和我一样都为这个读书计划而激动,于是我们决定在坡莫里塔中学全校范围内开展服务学习计划。计划从我的班级开始,然后由教语言艺术课程的老师在他们的班级里轮流使用这些书。
我把这个想法告诉了我的学生们,他们明显感到既好奇又兴奋。我给他们播放视频,给他们看巴基斯坦的孩子们如何上学,如何放风筝,做孩子们做的事。他们被深深吸引住了。我又登录免费回收网的门多西诺县小组发布消息,问谁有不用的五加仑塑胶水罐。不到两小时我就收到回应并在当天下午就把它提了回来。孩子们带来大袋大袋的硬币倒到罐里,罐子重得我都提不起来了。
我们每天都阅读葛瑞格的巴基斯坦历险记,并见证了他在科尔飞筹建当地第一所学校过程中的坚韧不拔和无私奉献。自第一所学校建成至今,他的组织已经在巴基斯坦和阿富汗边远地区建成了超过145所学校,让68000个孩子得以接受教育;这些学校都以女孩作为重点教育对象。为什么要重点教育女孩呢?为女孩提供五年制教育,可以降低婴儿死亡率,减缓人口膨胀,改善基本的健康水平和生活水平。一位受过教育的母亲不会再哑忍暴力;教育帮助她们争取成为土地主人和继承人的权利;最后,受过教育的妇女更有可能会留守和改善她们的家园,然而受过教育的男人则往往会离家到城市去生活。
一分钱如何能带来和平?一分钱在尤凯亚买不到什么东西,但在巴基斯坦和阿富汗的乡村地区,一分钱可以买到一支铅笔,开始一段教育,甚至可以改变一个人的人生;因为在恐怖组织肆虐的地区,他们招收的往往是没有受过教育的文盲孩子。一支铅笔可以让他们读书、写字、学习。一分钱可以买到一支铅笔,两分钱一个橡皮擦,十五分钱一个笔记本。两到三美金可以支付一名教师一天的工资,二十美金可以买到一名学生一年所需的学习物资,五千美金可以支持一所学校一年的运作。
我的学生们正积极地参与“为和平捐一分钱”基金会活动,而这个活动的目标正是为了鼓励儿童——我们未来的领导者,鼓励他们拓宽文化视野、认知慈善的意义、成为世界大家庭的一员、致力于帮助其他儿童享有其应有的受教育权,这可是联合国《世界人权宣言》第二十六条宣称的我们都应享有的一项基本人权。