Last week was an amazing week. Along with doing the mural project in town, I was fortunate enough to be connected to two local primary schools just outside of Jinga. Thanks to Soft Power and my friend Sharon, their director, for connecting me to these schools. You can check them out here: www.softpowereducation.com
On Friday afternoon, my friend Moses and I headed over to the Lawanda Primary School. A nice little school situated on a beautiful grassy knoll with an amazing tree in the middle of the hillside leading up to the school.
I was there to work with their P7 students. In Ugandan schools, unlike in American schools, students attend classes, not grades, labeled as P for primary, and S for secondary. There are 7 primary levels, and 4 secondary levels, plus 2 additional secondary pre-collegiate levels.
There are really no parameters of age for a given class level. If you pass your year-end exam, you move on to the next class level. And if not, you stay behind. So in any given class, you could have a 5 or 6 year (or more) age range between students depending on how quickly they learn and move forward.
In this P7 class there were about 120 students ranging in age and size from small little 12 year olds, to grown boys of 16. This is quite an interesting scenario, given that the younger kids are often quicker to understand what is going on and equally, if not more, capable to write and read as those 5 years older.
I shared with them about the Peace Pals project. As I have done in each of the five workshops I have led. I tell them about where I come from, showing them a map of the U.S. and where in California I reside. Given that in each of the five settings I have worked there has not been a map on the walls (nor any additional educational material, for that matter) I give them time to look at the map and really see where places are.
After showing the map of the U.S. I either show them a map of Africa, and/or a map of the world. I begin to explain to them how they are part of a huge project involving thousands of students and that not only are they receiving postcards from students in America, but they are going to be creating postcards, sharing their art and messages of peace, with students in India.
Using the world map, and also a map of India and the sub-continent, I show the students how the project is really world wide ~ connecting the U.S. to Uganda, Africa, and onto India.
Eyes wide, attentive, and eager to see the world, the map proves to be a highly effective tool to showcase the vastness of the geography of this planet, as well as the scope of this project they have randomly been selected to participate in.
During this afternoon workshop, I had the idea to take this group of 120 out of the classroom and talk to them about Peace and the expression of being peaceful outdoors. Having initiated the conversation in the classroom, a few of the students sharing their thoughts on peace as “freedom” and “Friendship”, “being kind to each other” and “sharing love”, I reminded them that peace is also a state of quite, of silence, of being at ease and calm within.
It was at that point that I asked them to single file their way out of the classroom, row by row, and make their way down to the magnificent tree in the yard bellow.
Standing in this circle around this glorious tree, we stood together in one giant circle. I asked them to consider what we had talked about inside and to feel where that “peace” resided inside. I then led them in a single rotation around the tree. Taking three steps back to make room, we slowly walked around the tree in silence. This was a powerful moment for me, watching as this group of students certainly did something they had never done before. Some laughed, others questioned the tall white man orchestrating this silly game around their tree.
But after completing the entire circle, the students arrived. They dropped in. We tightened the circle and stood in silence. I chimed my Tibetan cymbals and we took several breaths of peace together. There were tears, there were hearts opening, and there was a feeling of ease and relaxed joy on the faces of these students.
Upon completion of our meditation, we returned to the classroom in that same single file, and made out way into the creative aspect of this Peace Pals workshop.
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