Friday, November 02, 2007

Letters to new friends


Dear Friend,
Hi, my name is J. I’m twelve years old and am in the seventh grade. My favorite book and movie series is Harry Potter. What is yours?
I also love to act, sing and dance. I really like musical theater. My favorite sports are basketball and horseback riding. What do you like to do for fun?
Please write back if you can.
Your friend,
J

Dear Friend,
My name is W. I am 7 years old. My favorite food is pasta.
What is your favorite? I like to play tag. What do you like to do? Please write back if you can.
Your friend,
W

Dear Friend,
My name is J. I am 8 years old. My favorite band is Rascall Flatts. What is your favorite?
I like to play soccer. What do you like to do?
Please write back if you can.
Your friend,
J

Dear Friend,
Hi, my name is M. I am nine years old and I love animals.
I like to play soccer and basketball. My favorite singer is Kelly Clarkson. What’s your favorite singer? I also really like to draw.
Please write back if you can.
Your friend,
M

On Sunday I ran the church school. There were only 15 kids (meaning my three made up 1/5th of the children of the school). They wrote letters to new friends in Alice, South Africa. Students there do not have access to many books, either in their classrooms or their school libraries. After exchanging a few letters the children will hold a fundraiser in the spring to raise money for books.

They will make a difference. One letter and book at a time.

For more information about how to support libraries in rural South Africa, please visit Masifunde Sonke (Let's Read Together) at South Africa Partners.

10 comments:

Jenn in Holland said...

Wow, what a tremendous project and what a great way to begin it. A personal contact with a new friend will surely make it especially meaningful as the kids help to raise funds to buy the new friends some books! And in the meantime these new friends get to read each other's letters. What a bonus!

Posts like this just solidify my ever deepening crush on you, you know. You are A-MAY-ZEENG!

Flower Child said...

Yay for books! Not so much Kelly Clarkson. And soooo happy to hear that the children will be receiving books written by Africans.

Goofball said...

Wow that sounds like a fantastic project. It is so important to make our children aware of children in other cultures. Having a friend across the world can be so precious!

Jen said...

I love projects like this. It was my French pen pal that really shaped the rest of my life and choices, by sparking my dreams of far away places.

Heather said...

What a wonderful project. I bet the kids (on both sides) will have a great time with it.

Fourier Analyst said...

What a fun project! One of the ways our school raises money for our library in order to buy books "off-budget" (meaning not through the very pricey suppliers of English books, but with discounters who deliver to the UK and volunteers who bring them over on their trips) is to have second-hand book sales. It enables those of us who are challenged for space and are willing to part with some of our literature a chance to donate knowing some other book lover will have a chance to read. So for 50 cents for children's books, and a dollar for adult books, we raise cash that then goes to buying books for our library. It takes a bit of organizing, (and storage!) but has been very successful. Of course, the fact that English language books are a lot harder to come by over here might have something to do with it, but still it might be a useful idea for some groups!

Hope your kids get answers back from their lovely letters! Pen- (and blog-)pals are great fun!!

Unknown said...

How I told you lately that I love you?

CableGirl said...

You really are the coolest. I love the project idea. Can't wait to hear i they get return letters.

FENICLE said...

Cool project idea. What a way for them to learn too.

Alex Elliot said...

That sounds like a wonderful project.