Thursday, April 1, 2010

Enjoying a Malawian (International) School Production

We were invited to attend a performance at the local International Primary school. This includes children up to grade 6, and a school of 300 students. Deb, our landlady, is the music teacher at this school so we were invited. We had the complete joy of watching about 150 fourth through sixth graders perform a very beautiful musical drama about two tribes in Africa. We were both struck by how fortunate these children are to attend this school.

The stage was covered with children of every race and color, all dressed in native costumes and singing in beautiful harmony. The production was called "Thondwe and the Rain Goddess". We would estimate that perhaps 10% of the performers were Caucasian, and the remainder were a beautiful mixture of ethic groups from around the world. South America was probably not represented but the other continents (except Antarctica) were fully represented. We couldn't help but believe that this type of school can only bring about peace, tolerance, understanding, and love.

We have always felt fortunate to live in Oak Ridge with its mixture of cultures, and to have our children grow up in such a diverse and challenging environment; this was a true integration of all.

Wishing all of you a very blessed Easter. Celebrate life.

2 comments:

fladroma said...

Hello my fellow Peace Corp Volunteer. I hope this message finds you well. My name is Farfum Ladroma and I am an education volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. I am writing to you all today because I need your help! My students and I at GPS MATAMAKA (an outer-island Government Primary School in Vava’u) are pursuing a “POSTCARD PROJECT.” I am asking for other PCVs outside of Tonga to please send us a postcard from your host country. We are trying to collect as many postcards from around the world, especially in countries where Peace Corps is currently operating. This project will help enhance my student’s understanding of other cultures and share what Peace Corps volunteers do all across the globe. I will keep a running list of all the postcards received with their origin on my blog at: http://farfumandtonga.blogspot.com/. You may check if your postcard successfully makes it to Tonga. This will be a great cultural exchange for everyone involved and a lot of fun. Please help out if you can and tell everyone you know (even your friends and families back home)! I would greatly appreciate your participation. Thank you very much and malo ‘aupito mei Tonga.
Please send postcards to:
MATAMAKA GPS
c/o Peace Corps
P.O. Box 136
Neiafu, VAVA’U
KINGDOM OF TONGA
SOUTH PACIFIC

Best,
-Farfum (aka Feleti)

Dava Shoffner, RNC, APRN said...

Kaye, someone wants to send you an e-mail about exciting news. How can she e-mail you?

Hope your life journey is continuing to be all you expected and want.

Best wishes, Dava