BRIDGING WORLDS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
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Since arriving in the U.S. nearly three
months ago, our six Bridging Worlds Emerging Leaders have been
sharing their stories and speaking about the condition of women
in their countries. While the ages and interests of their audiences
span a very wide spectrum we find that all are deeply affected
by the Emerging Leaders' presentations.
Some of the Leaders' most enthusiastic audiences are young people.
Their boundless curiosity about every facet of the Emerging
Leaders' lives, cultures, customs and experiences impresses
all of us.
In early September, the Emerging Leaders made their first presentations
to school groups with a visit to The Montecito Union Primary
School. Visits and presentations to The Santa Barbara Middle
School and The Monroe School (also located in Santa Barbara)
followed shortly; the Emerging Leaders also spoke to a group
of young women at Girls, Inc., a non-profit organization that
provides young girls with after school facilities and empowerment
training.
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| Maryma Scotlin
Emerging Leader from India speaks to the 6th grade at
the Monroe School in Santa Barbara |
Listening to the questions and comments from the various youngsters
reawakened our awareness of the advantages that residents of
the United States and other developed countries enjoy on a daily
basis. The school visits also reinforced our perspective on
-- and commitment to -- continuing and expanding our own cultural
and educational programs while supporting those of similar organizations.
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| Girls Inc of Santa
Barbara listen attentively |
The following excerpts from students' thank-you notes to Emerging
Leaders Indira Ghale and Maryma Scotlin offer the best indication
of the powerful impression the Emerging Leaders make on the
youngsters they meet. These are just a sample from the 6th grade
students at The Monroe School.
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| "Thank you for all the things you taught
us. I learned a lot about India and Nepal. I learned they get
married under 15 years old, Nepal has no cars or indoor plumbing
and they get paid 25 cents a day. I didn't know that more people
live in India than the U.S.A. and in Nepal they walk 3 hours
to get to school. |
- Isaac Nevarez
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| "I found interesting that the schools
are smaller than ours but they have more kids. Another thing
was that the women get paid only 25 cents but a coke costs 50
cents." |
- Alex
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| "Thank you for coming to our school
and teaching us about India and Nepal. I learned so much. I
was surprised how many children drop out of school and how many
girls get married at my age. |
- Alba Vargas
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| "Thank you for taking your time to teach
us about your country. I learned that you don't eat beef because
it comes from a cow. I also learned that in Nepal you have to
walk 3 hours to get to school, and there are more boys than
girls because the girls stay home and help their family. And
there are 100 students in one class" |
- Anthony Mayes
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| "Thank you for coming to our school
to speak about your homelands. It was very interesting to learn
about Nepal and India. I was very interested in how the children
don't wear shoes at all! I do not think it is fair that girls
usually do not get a good education because they have to stay
home and cook and clean. I guess I am lucky I only have one
brother! If I lived in India or Nepal I would probably have
nine or ten!! That is scary to imagine." |
- Molly Lynn Greathouse
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| "I really liked listening to what your
cultures were like. I learned how different countries are like
there are more people in India than in the United States. In
Nepal they have no cars! That would be hard to live with. |
- Leah Gonzalez
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| "Thank you for coming to our school
and talking about your countries. It is cool how a hundred of
our dollars is 7,000 of your dollars. It is odd that you can
get more people in one state than we can get in our whole country.
Thank you. it was awesome." |
| - Matt Hartsough |
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