Click here to view our Picture GalleryUlaanbaatar, Mongolia - Thursday
Today was amazing!
As we drove up to the New Generation School this morning, a group of about 20 students burst out the front doors and into the parking lot, running with bouquets of flowers in their hands! It was so incredible...what a warm welcome! The look on their faces was pure excitement! Allie and were so anxious to start the workshops with them!
We all marched back to their classroom. Tuul and the english teacher quieted the room. Allie and I sat in front of 25 expectant faces. Some of the smaller children could barely sit still. I was so happy to be there that I just wanted to hug them all. We began with introductions. The students do not know too much english... but they know enough for us to communicate a little, though the translators are going to have to help with the more in depth parts of the workshops.
After introductions we showed them the documentary about their sister-school, Lake Area Middle School, in New Orleans, Louisiana! They all crowded around the screen. They seemed fascinated by the photos and music from New Orleans in the film. They particularly liked the part of the video when the Lake Area students gave a tour of their school.
After the film we answered questions about New Orleans and then gave the students the Cultural Exchange Box from their school in New Orleans. I have never seen a group so excited by the box before!! I can't wait to show the New Orlean's students pictures of the New Generation group opening up the box and looking at the t-shirts, mardi gras beads, post-cards, etc. It was so much fun just to watch the excitement!
Next the students taught us about their group and school. They took us all around the school, showing us the various posters they had made about their work over the past year with One World Youth Project. One of the things I particularly liked was the fact that they interpreted cultural exchange to mean learning about the cultural arts. They had brought in a ballerina from the Mongolian ballet to speak to their group, had studied classical music, learned about art, and even held a culture night at their school. They also had done research on the 7 wonders of the world. They have chosen to focus on UN Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensure Envrironmental Sustainability...and have therefore studied all about air pollution in their city. They also have a litter clean-up planned for this coming Sunday!
We spent the rest of the day working on their Declaration to the United Nations. They spent over 3 hours working as a group to draft this document. Although, Allie and I didn't understand what they were saying as they debated and discussed the document in Mongolian -it was still fascinating to watch the process. We could see which students spoke out the most as leaders and which ones contributed in other ways.
As we drove up to the New Generation School this morning, a group of about 20 students burst out the front doors and into the parking lot, running with bouquets of flowers in their hands! It was so incredible...what a warm welcome! The look on their faces was pure excitement! Allie and were so anxious to start the workshops with them!
We all marched back to their classroom. Tuul and the english teacher quieted the room. Allie and I sat in front of 25 expectant faces. Some of the smaller children could barely sit still. I was so happy to be there that I just wanted to hug them all. We began with introductions. The students do not know too much english... but they know enough for us to communicate a little, though the translators are going to have to help with the more in depth parts of the workshops.
After introductions we showed them the documentary about their sister-school, Lake Area Middle School, in New Orleans, Louisiana! They all crowded around the screen. They seemed fascinated by the photos and music from New Orleans in the film. They particularly liked the part of the video when the Lake Area students gave a tour of their school.
After the film we answered questions about New Orleans and then gave the students the Cultural Exchange Box from their school in New Orleans. I have never seen a group so excited by the box before!! I can't wait to show the New Orlean's students pictures of the New Generation group opening up the box and looking at the t-shirts, mardi gras beads, post-cards, etc. It was so much fun just to watch the excitement!
Next the students taught us about their group and school. They took us all around the school, showing us the various posters they had made about their work over the past year with One World Youth Project. One of the things I particularly liked was the fact that they interpreted cultural exchange to mean learning about the cultural arts. They had brought in a ballerina from the Mongolian ballet to speak to their group, had studied classical music, learned about art, and even held a culture night at their school. They also had done research on the 7 wonders of the world. They have chosen to focus on UN Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensure Envrironmental Sustainability...and have therefore studied all about air pollution in their city. They also have a litter clean-up planned for this coming Sunday!
We spent the rest of the day working on their Declaration to the United Nations. They spent over 3 hours working as a group to draft this document. Although, Allie and I didn't understand what they were saying as they debated and discussed the document in Mongolian -it was still fascinating to watch the process. We could see which students spoke out the most as leaders and which ones contributed in other ways.
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