Primary schools link up

Hi,

As an additional component to the main focus of my research I have organised a link between my old primary school and another local school in the UK, Lanercost and Hayton, and Khumaga primary school here in Botswana. I have spoken to children at all three schools about my research and about life in the UK and Botswana and how it is both similar and different.

When I returned to the UK in early December 2008 I brought with me around 60 letters from children at Khumaga primary school to children at Lanercost and Hayton. After my visits to Lanercost and Hayton the children were presented with these letters and asked if they would like to reply, the overwhelming response was that they would.

On Friday the 20th I took the letters from children at Lanercost and Hayton into Khumaga primary school. After handing them over to Mma Tshube and the Headmaster, Mr P, they were then given out to all of the children who had written letters previously. The children were thrilled to see that the letters they wrote in November had received a reply. They received the letters and spent the next few hours reading the letters and carrying them around and trading stories from new pen friends. When I went back to the school to take a few pictures many of the children were carrying their letters around with them, not wanting to leave them anywhere! These photos are now in the gallery of www.zebramigration.org and show children between the ages of 7 and 13 with their letters.

The teachers at Khumaga are happy because it encourages the children to write letters while improving their English and learning about another area of the world. The children are happy because they now have new friends who they can write to while trading stories with the other children from Khumaga.

Children from Lanercost and Hayton have also taken the time to collect books for the children in Khumaga. Due to the generosity of these children and their parents there are now lots of books which will shortly be sent out to Botswana. I will keep you updated and will let you know when the books arrive.

If you have any comments or questions about anything included on the website or in this blog then please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or email me at zebra@zebramigration.org

Till next time.

James