Second Graders Learn About Being a Refugee

Kim Hollandsworth, RESPECT's International Volunteer e-Zzine Coordinator, recently ran a classroom session for second graders using materials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She was delighted by the results. The children went from not knowing anything about refugees at the start of the session, to getting a sense of what it is like to be a refugee.

On the video, "To Be A Refugee," children have to make their own soccer ball out of a surgical glove and twine just so they have a toy to play with. The kids in the classroom were in awe at how the children created the soccer ball – or indeed, even the fact that they had to make their own toy!

Kim also introduced the class to the pen-pal letter exchange program, having letters from refugee kids the same age. They used a few more class sessions to write to the refugees, and so incorporated creative writing, spelling and grammar into their lessons.

Kim felt the children took away with them a greater global awareness and understanding of how others must struggle simply to find a home, or even a toy. They are also on their way to making new friends through the pen-pal program.