A few months ago I reconnected with a friend from high school on Facebook. I hadn't talked to her probably since I graduated, so it was fun to catch up. One of the more interesting things was that she teaches 4th grade, which is what I taught for years before coming to Botswana.
Through our conversation, we decided that our classes should be pen-pals. So, we started January off by having our classes write letters to each other and carried it on until May, when her school year ended.
My class loved writing to her students and "educating" them on Botswana and Africa in general. It was so cute to see the little things they would exchange in the mail from hand drawn pictures to school photos, and then eventually to money. My students who received money with their letters felt so honored! (One of the mothers of one of my students told me she told her son to hold on to that dollar because he can use it one day when he goes to America.)
At the end of our letter exchanges, some of our students exchanged mailing or email addresses. It's been cute to hear about the few who have stayed in touch over the past couple of months. Even yesterday I received a letter at the school for one of my students. I loved one of the lines in the little girl wrote in her letter to my student, "When I grow up, I want to be a missionary to Botswana so I can come and meet you." Love it!!
I'm so thankful for all the opportunities the Lord has opened up from my time in Botswana, and this chance to connect 10-12 year olds from across the world to each other is definitely one of them. And who knows...maybe there WILL be future missionaries birthed out of this little activity! ;)
Some of my students enjoying their pen-pal letters
5 comments:
That is so cool. I had a pen pale from Africa as I was growing up. That is part of what made me want to work overseas. I am glad your class can have the some sort of blessing.
Fun!
That's really neat, K! Where in Africa was your pen-pal from?
Andrea,
I teach 7th grade computers at a Christian school in Georgia. Would you, your class, or individual students be intereted in having pen pals? Would you be able to print off e-mail? Are you able to use a web cam on your computer?
Suzanne Saliba
Bethlehem Christian Academy
Hi Suzanne! Can you email me so we can chat more about this? My email address is botswanagirl at gmail.com. Sounds neat!
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