Introduce Disadvantaged Kids to the World

When Leigh Vierstra, a social studies teacher from Wisconsin. traveled to Kenya, she did more than climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She learned about Pa-Moja, Swahili for "together," and came back to introduce the economically disadvantaged students she teaches to the Canadian not-for-profit organization that connects 33 African schools with schools in North America. Through Pa-Moja exchanges, her students began to look beyond their troubled home lives, gain confidence and motivation, learn about the world, and realize that they weren't the only youngsters struggling to make a new life for themselves.

     The benefits of introducing disadvantaged kids to Pa-Moja seem to be in line with studies that show the same placebo effect that causes belief that medicine can cure to cure can have an impact in the classroom. When students were told that they could improve their IQs, their brain functions responded by improving their IQs, just like bodies respond to sugar pills. Positive beliefs, genuine acceptance, and nonjudgmental coaching produce resiliency in students marked by balance, persistence, and awareness. Find out more at Thom Markhan's website, thommarkham.com.

       Pa-Moja (pamojaeducation.com) fosters this kind of resiliency through the Internet, YouTube, and Skype. Besides an intercultural exchange of educational development and concern for wildlife conservation, Pa-Moja also facilitates an exchange of music, dance, poetry, art, recipes, and life styles. Interestingly, Pa-Moja even provides students with the online option of working toward the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) high school degree mentioned in the earlier blog post, "See the World."

    Another organization that connects U.S. classrooms with students thousands of miles away is ePals.com, which was described in the earlier blog post, "Getting to Know You."