Last week in my 3rd grade class we read a story about two young girls (about the same age as my students) living in a refugee camp in Pakistan. The story did a good job of demonstrating the extreme poverty, sadness, and danger involved in these girls' lives, but in a way that kids could understand. Still, I wasn't sure if my students would be able to grasp the seriousness of the issues brought up in the book. First of all, they all come from fairly well-off families, and are blessed many times over with material goods. Also, Costa Rica is a country that doesn't even have an army, so war is not a concept they know or experience, except through news.
During our class discussion, I asked the class if anyone would actually want to live in a refugee camp. I wanted to hear their reactions and see if they really understood what it would mean to live like the two little girls in the story.
One of my little guys raised his hand to say, "Ms. Lund, I don't want to live in camp. But I wish they have what I have. I will trade so they have what I have."
I was blown away.
If only we could all have hearts like he does, and really mean it.
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