Fast Start and Summer Start 2012: Yes, Sara, there are trees in America

By Jose Alfaro

Some of the best times at our camps are the little moments when you see the students light up with recognition. A lot of times it is not about something you did in class. Most of the times it is actually about something that will stick with them forever that made them a wiser person. Last night we screened Apollo 13. That movie always gives me the chills. It is such a good story and a wonderful moment in our history. The students usually love it too but for far different reasons.

This morning as we sat there after our breakfast of cream of corn, bread and Ovaltine, I got to talk to some of the students about it. There were so many points that they learned from the movie, it made the late night worth it. They were marveled at the fact that so many engineers had to work together to bring three people home. They were marveled at the key place computers had in the operation. They were so impressed to see real life engineers BRAINSTORMING, just like we taught them earlier this week. They were impressed with the fact that they had to brainstorm to use weird materials to make something that was not expected or supposed to work.

Even more important than the different points in the movie that related to the curriculum was the discussions that were sparked for the kid's lives and their world view. One young lady, Sara, told me, "What impressed me most out of the movie was to see that America has trees!". "Before last night in my mind, America was on a hanky (suspended in the air or something). But yesterday I learned they have coconut tress and other trees, grass and nature." I laughed. So impressive that we have no idea what some of our students' world view or view of America is. Kind of the way people in America have a distorted view of Africa when we tell them what we do. People in America think of Africa as a large savannah, a dessert maybe, or the other iconic images. But the continent is so vast!

Sara and I then talked about Michigan, our nature, the Upper Penninsula, fresh water beaches! The other girls around her wanted to know if we had farmers in the USA and if it was true that we had poor people. I told them about our farmers market, community shares agriculture, organic farmers. I had to tell them about Detroit and how it looks now a lot like Monrovia looked like a few years ago. Boarded up buildings, squatters, and homelessness are sadly common to all of us.

Sara and the others around me then got into a discussions of how Liberia can use agriculturalists to create business and engineers to innovate. We talked about so many projects that they could go into. Peanut candy, water bottling, tourism, agroforestry, dried products. I saw their eyes grow wide at the thought of selling dried mangoes and pineapple in Monrovia to the hoards of expats and NGO workers. It was a moment of eureka for them. A simple moment over hot tea and food. A simple moment of recognition. True education!!

Yes, Sara, there are trees in America!

Some more pics for your viewing pleasure