As I mentioned before the holidays, Yoel (another PCV living in my town) and I are starting to collaborate with a center for "socially vulnerable children." The beneficiaries of this center are sometimes abandoned by their families or sometimes families are unable to care for them. In either case, the idea is that is a short-term care facility. After their stay, children either go back to their families or to one of the new foster families in our district.
Yoel and I have been to the "Centru Raza Soaralui" or "Center of the Sun's Rays" a few times in the last couple weeks. Our first mission is to get to know the staff, the program, and the children. After we have a better idea of what they have and might need, the director is very eager to work with us in a development capacity. The first day we played a name game incorporating animal sounds, duck-duck-goose, and a handful of Moldovan games before the afternoon disintegrated into serious cross-examining from our little questioners.
As per their request, we came back a second day prepared to teach them a little something about America (Peace Corps' second goal, verbatim!). Yoel, prepared the history lesson--he can recite the names of all three of Columbus' ships from the 1492 voyage, in descending order by size--and I prepared to talk about my state when Yoel prompted, then do a demonstration of the "melting pot" metaphor.
Since we used the maps to explain how most American families descend from more than one culture, discussed the geography and corresponding recreational activities in different parts of the country (they drooled over the Olympic Mountains, pictured among those from my last day hike in Washington, Mount Ellinor, Memorial Day 2009), and even touched on where corn can and cannot grow in the United States, I think they understood that the United States is a big, diverse place.
Here's a fun fact I found preparing these activities, which clearly validates the continued use of the "melting pot" metaphor in the twenty-first century. According to the CIA World Factbook, the 2010 net migration rate in Moldova was -1.13 migrations/1000 people. In the United States, we welcomed +4.25 migrations/1000 people. Hence, Yoel and I repeatedly explained to these kiddos "we are a mixed people." What else is there to say?
Yoel and I have been to the "Centru Raza Soaralui" or "Center of the Sun's Rays" a few times in the last couple weeks. Our first mission is to get to know the staff, the program, and the children. After we have a better idea of what they have and might need, the director is very eager to work with us in a development capacity. The first day we played a name game incorporating animal sounds, duck-duck-goose, and a handful of Moldovan games before the afternoon disintegrated into serious cross-examining from our little questioners.
Since we used the maps to explain how most American families descend from more than one culture, discussed the geography and corresponding recreational activities in different parts of the country (they drooled over the Olympic Mountains, pictured among those from my last day hike in Washington, Mount Ellinor, Memorial Day 2009), and even touched on where corn can and cannot grow in the United States, I think they understood that the United States is a big, diverse place.
Here's a fun fact I found preparing these activities, which clearly validates the continued use of the "melting pot" metaphor in the twenty-first century. According to the CIA World Factbook, the 2010 net migration rate in Moldova was -1.13 migrations/1000 people. In the United States, we welcomed +4.25 migrations/1000 people. Hence, Yoel and I repeatedly explained to these kiddos "we are a mixed people." What else is there to say?
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