The kids at Bani Street don’t have a lot of opportunities to expand their world. But we know that as kids, sometimes that’s one of the most important things you can do. Whether it’s reading a book about faraway lands or connecting with people from different backgrounds, learning about the world can mean the world to kids.
We wanted the kids at Bani to have that experience, too…to let them know that there are kids similar to them, just on the other side of the globe.
We connected to a 5th grade teacher in Kansas to see if she might have each of her students write a letter to the kids at Bani Street. She took the idea and ran with it, immersing her students in a learning experience about what Rohingya refugees have been through and what they could do to help.
Each student wrote a letter to a friend in the Bani Street program. They also send pictures of themselves and sent them along with the letters.
We brought the letters to Bani Street in a special after-school session. And after reading them through, the Bani kids wrote back.
You could almost see their world vision expanding throughout the process.
The kids were so energetic and excited about the letters – seeing the faces of other kids from the United States made them so happy.
“None of these kids have had this opportunity before,” said one of the Bani teachers. “You can see their minds thinking through this new world they are being exposed to. It is really good for them and for their futures.”
“Almost daily, the students would ask me when they were going to get the letters from the kids and if there was anything they could do to help them,” said our Kansas-based teacher. “They realized that these students might not have as much as they have. It sparked a spirit of generosity and empathy inside of them. They will never forget this unique experience.”
