Crowning Moments

Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good. -Petrarch

We started with class 4A at EP Primary this morning immediately following chapel, so the students were especially excited and joyous as we began our final opening circle.  Kira led the introduction and shared her personal anecdotes and stories about the time she has spent with the Cliff Valley 4th grade students, one of the classes she facilitates in Atlanta.  Her personal connection made the class even more excited about the project and they remained intensely focused during our class discussion. Solace was a particularly vocal student. She spoke about how water and rivers make energy. She was the first student to recognize that hydro-electricity dams are used in Ghana to power lights in our brainstorming this exchange.  It was a really great moment of a student recognizing the interconnectedness of our Earth’s resources.

As the students were making the beads, one of the girls decided to wear her necklace like a crown.  That began a trend where all of the students insisted on wearing their bead necklaces from their American friends like a crown.  It was a silly and fun moment in the class, and spoke of the little things that resonate such joy, and goodness, in sharing.

After the class was finished, Helen gathered up all of the 1^st position students for a photo outside.  Helen beamed with pride as she introduced them as the leaders of her classroom and as the leaders of the future.  Mimi remarked, in her reflections on the day, that she was really proud that six out of the top ten students were girls!

We moved to Susan's class for the students to complete their messages to Paidiea. This is the final CIH project for these P6 students, many of whom have been participating since they were in the second grade, so they were also very self-guided and focused.  The highlight of the class was one student named Ansel who read his message out loud, in his sweet voice. "Dear friend, I hope you like this....The world was creating for some of us, not all of us. We must try high to sustain the environment for the future." He shares of the particular importance of preserving tress, and the significance of they hold for us all. Mimi shares,  Susan in and of herself was a highlight for her.  She was so warm and kind, insisting that we all come back to Ghana even if it takes years.  She said a year in Ghana is nothing so coming back in 2 years is fine. As the students completed their golden yellow pages, and our time winds down, the truth and generosity of Susan's invitation, and the children's heart-engaged-focus link us to the binds of friendship- for students, teacher and volunteers. Grace and goodness fill our final hours at EP Primary Ho-Bankoe.