Let me take you to a school in the slums of India. It has 135 students aged 5 to 13. It's a building with one floor and 5 rooms, with 2 teachers. With too many kids for such a small building, it means that some rooms have to support multiple grade levels. Sometimes two different grade levels and other times it could be three different grades in the same room. This sounds small and cramped, but this school was previously in a building with only two rooms for 80 students. So this new five-room building is rather large in comparison. But on this particular day the kids, 120 of them, were given paper, pencils, and crayons, along with the simple directions to draw. They knew that at the end the teachers would pick the top ten drawings, and that was all.
For an afternoon these kids got to just express themselves in any way they liked on that paper. They could draw whatever they wanted and color with any and all colors that pleased them. It could be anything at all. And then to be rewarded for the hard work at the end was a way to show that hard work does pay off. I mean, come on. How many times have we all done something that we were really proud of, or excited about, and loved the celebration or the pat on the back for a job well done?! Heck, sometimes that's the best part! When you're just like "Yes! I did that!" That sense of pride gives us something to keep working for and believing in. That's what this day did. It might have been a simple activity but it gave these kids something to be proud of and a chance to really just be kids.
I know, it still sounds like such an easy thing, but trust me it's not. I taught at another school in the slums and I wanted to change the style of teaching for a class. I wanted these kids to draw a picture and then write a little story about the picture. That was all. I thought of it as a fun way to practice their English in a way that they wouldn't normally do it because I know personally, I enjoy creative thinking more than the structured critical thinking process. But this entire classroom just looked at me blankly. Which was followed up with "Draw what, Ma'am?" "I don’t know, teacher." "We don't draw, Ma'am" and so on. I was adamant though that we would do something different and it would be fun. So I gave them more ideas..."There's a holiday coming up, you can draw a picture of how you're going to celebrate and write about it. Show me what you like to do for fun. Or what your family and home looks like. It can be anything you want, you just have to draw it first." Then, very reluctantly they started drawing. So the fact that these kids had no extra instructions or prompting, and drew some really amazing pictures, is absolutely astounding!
We at Hands 4 Zero Poverty (H4ZP) were so proud and happy with all of the hard work these kids put into getting out of their comfort zone and just going for it, that we rewarded them at the end of it all. The students that drew the top three drawings got prizes; a backpack, a drink container, and a lunchbox. The school overall got 150 notebooks and 1000 pencils. And then all 135 children got veggie burgers (from Burger King) and mango juice. This also sounds like a simple thing, but that is a real treat for them, and they all go crazy for it! (Actually, even I go crazy for mango juice when I can get it!) This was all possible because of donations and to further be able to do more ongoing projects and campaigns like this, the top 10 drawings are being sold. When bought, they will be framed and then shipped to the purchaser and the money will go back to providing more school supplies and support for the students in school.
Remember this from this story also: while you may be supporting from the other side of the world with words of encouragement, ideas, money, supplies, or whatever it may be, what you're actually doing is changing these kids’ lives. Because of our supporters, these kids were able to be kids while learning that hard work does pay off.
If you would like to provide supplies to this school, contact us at info@h4zp.org.
