In class on Wednesday last week, we learned how to write “friendly
letters”. In friendly letters, as
opposed to a business letter, you use casual language, you chat about your life
lately, and you sign off using just your first name or maybe even a
nickname.
My kids
are writing friendly letters to their new “pen friends” in America. I was lucky enough to be paired with my
little sister Lindsay’s classroom through the Peace Corps World Wise Schools
program. Through the program, I’ll write
letters to Lindsay’s classroom and share my experiences abroad. After discussing with Lindsay’s teacher, Mrs.
Jensen, we decided that we also wanted our students to have the opportunity to
write to each other directly.
My dad
and my stepmom immediately jumped at the chance to get involved with the
project. My stepmom Kristy went to
Lindsay’s classroom and took individual photos of the American students to
accompany each letter. My dad financed
sending the package through DHL, so hopefully we’ll be receiving the letters in
the next few days.
Of
course, my kids were absolutely ecstatic that they would have new American
friends.
So, after
introducing the topic of the “friendly letter”, we decided to brainstorm some
questions that we could ask these strange American kids. The usual questions immediately surfaced: how
old are they? What do they eat? What do they do in their spare time? Where do they go to school?
They
were good questions, but I wanted more… pizzazz. How many chances will you get in life to ask
an American student anything you want?? So I started egging them on.
“Do you
know that in America, we don’t have buckets?
Everyone uses SHOWERS!!!”
Gasps erupted
around the classroom.
“And
did you know that in America, the kids wear their street clothes to school, every
day?!”
One of
the boys didn’t believe me. How could
they go to school in anything but a school uniform? What an outrage.
This
provoked some interesting questions. I
asked the students to begin their letters with a personal introduction, write a
second paragraph explaining a little about Lesotho, and end with a final
paragraph with any questions that they wanted to ask.
The
third paragraphs were easily the longest of the three.
What
kinds of transport do they use in America?
Donkeys or horses? What do they
use for bathing? What do they do in the
morning? What do they want to be when
they grow up? Why didn’t they come visit
last weekend? What is their mother’s
name?
We
wrote a draft letter on Wednesday and made corrections in class, so that the
following day we could write a beautiful, perfect letter on clean white
paper. My students are meticulous about
making their letters straight and legible and mistake-free.
Thursday
morning was the big day. I walked into
English class at 9:20am with my stack of loose leaf paper. Some of the girls who sit nearest to my desk
were whispering and giggling. As soon as
I sat down, they said “we are so happy today, madam!”
It took at least an hour to copy
down the letters that they had written in class the day before. But they didn’t quite copy word-for-word what
they had previously written. They must
have been inspired overnight, because they tried their hardest to spice up their
writing to impress their new pen friends.
One of them even signed off her letter by saying “pass my greetings to
mum and dad!” Honestly, I don’t know
where in the world they hear some of the things that they say.
I can’t
wait for them to hear back from their pen friends. It sounds like a typical, sappy Peace Corps
moment, but watching my kids hunched over their letters, scribbling away madly
and perfecting every line, made me feel like I suddenly had a big lump stuck in
my throat. I felt like I needed to puff
out my chest and make more room to breathe.
Some of these kids have, quite literally, nothing at home. Having a letter from their own friend in
America (with a personalized photo!) is going to mean the world to
them.
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