Toothbrushes!

Last year, I received word from my dear mother that a great group at my elementary School, called the Make a Difference Club, wanted to choose my community in which to help make a difference!

Over the course of the summer, I received box after box of first aid supplies and toothbrushes. I have been saving them to use with the neddi (women's center) girls and the school children. Over the past 2 weeks I have had the opportunity to put the toothbrushes to good use.

First, at a neddi meeting, I gave a short toothbrushing lesson to the girls, and gave each of them a toothbrush and toothpaste. Some of them have old toothbrushes at home, but no one has toothpaste, and few of them have the motivation to brush!

We talked about the short and long term effects of brushing teeth, and the optimal way to brush teeth. "Snat twal kraygat as!" (Two times a day). They are very excited about their new toothbrushes, and wanted to send a letter to my Elementary School, thanking the students for sending such a useful gift.

The next week, I began my dental unit at the middle school. The first week we discussed the importance of toothbrushing. The local nurse came to give a talk to the students about dental hygiene. The next week, we did an experiment with Tums and vinegar to demonstrate the long-term effects of not brushing teeth. Each student also received a toothbrush and toothpaste thanks to my elementary school!

Here is one class with their new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Art Exchange Part 1

A while back I received an email from a program called "OneWorld Classrooms" regarding an art exchange they host every year. Basically they collect art projects from kids around the world, and send that art out to other kids around the world. For example, a classroom in America might send in 25 pieces of artwork, which will end up in 25 different participating classrooms around the world. Those 25 classrooms will have sent artwork from their students which will end up in other classrooms etc etc.

I thought, COOL. I LOVE cultural exchange. SO much. So I signed up all 5 of my middle school classes to participate in the exchange. We spent 3 weeks creating rough drafts and making art! The kids were able to use crayons (thanks to my mom!), glitter, paint, yarn, and fun do-dads to decorate their artwork. I had the support of some great fellow volunteers who came to my site to help supervise art days.

The theme was really open, so my kids drew everything from mosques to mountains to flags to Moroccan food and animals. The idea is to let kids of other cultures catch a glimpse of Moroccan culture. Here are some of their designs!

Starting top left, a letter from the Berber alphabet called Tifinaghe, a Moroccan carpet, a Berber henna design, a mosque, a piece of Berber jewelry called "tazerzit," and a Moroccan woman.

A mosque, the Berber alphabet, a Moroccan tajine, a rural town, different rural symbols (tazerzit, jug of water, carpet), and a kasbah (old-fashioned castle)

A Moroccan town, a tazerzit, a page on cultural exchange (see below. This student did 2), a Moroccan road, more cultural exchange, and the mountains in our region (although the school principal thought they looked like the pyramids of Egypt...)

A forest, a flying horse (?????), women in Moroccan caftans, and a plate of couscous with "agho" or buttermilk.

A Moroccan girl with the flag (this student said she is proud to be a girl and proud to be Moroccan), a Moroccan village, a henna design, a village, a woman milking a cow, and another mountain scene.

This student drew and wrote about how women and men are equal, and different countries are equal to each other even if they are different, and how people in different countries have different religions and that is okay.

This is one of my favorites. The student was very creative in coloring and painting different parts of the hand.

I sent all 125 pieces of art to the US on Friday, and will receive our exchange artwork (inshallah) sometime in January or February. To be continued.....