In the midst of feeling grateful at this time of year for all the good things that can happen and for all the light that can be generated, we want to thank you, our donors and supporters and volunteers, for keeping Something Good happening in the World!
Something Good in the World brings you artwork and creative writing of refugee children from Central America in a virtual art show.
In the face of obstacles, Something Good in the World teaches students to become versatile. The essential quality or “vitamin” of Versatility is about developing the mindset that makes one immune to self-doubt. Inside of a Golden Education Template (GET) inspired school model, SGITW needed to heed its own advice this spring. Distance learning is antithetical to experiential education – we want everything to be hands-on. But the need to change temporarily to meet new requirements is causing all of us to stretch our minds and hearts, and work at being versatile.
Originally, we would have led into our Winter into Spring newsletter with descriptions of all the fantastic activities of the past few months, but we have to pause in the light of the world situation, to reflect not only on the successes, but also on what might be next. This is especially the case because our school gardens are suddenly on pause, our spring programs on hold, and everything taking a deep in-breath of unknown. Hands-on,farm-based, experiential, arts-integrated, natural education is not designed to be online. So, what now?
KA MALA MALUHIA = THE HAWAIIAN “GARDEN PEACEFUL”
This past September Something Good in the World, was honored to present its Children’s Peaceful Garden design at the United Nations International Day of Peace, representing Roots & Shoots. After this lifechanging event, in which we had the privilege of describing our project to hundreds of attendees, I began spreading the word about this design beyond the New York area where the Children’s Peaceful Garden originated.
The goal of Something Good in the World’s Children’s Peaceful Garden design is to promote peaceful and imaginative play, as well as creative projects and arts-integrated learning, while experiencing in a hands-on way how to live sustainably and in harmony with the environment. This summer, it was our aim to spread this design and its motive to as many locations as possible, so that students of all ages, as well as parents and teachers, could enjoy its therapeutic effects not only at Kitchawan Farm, but also at their own schools, centers, and shelters.
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau I have the privilege to bring vulnerable children, refugees, at-risk youth, and traumatized teens from public schools, day care centers and shelters to farms, and the honor to witness them experiencing the joy of being in nature, […]
Thanks to an unexpected series of fortunate events, including donations from organizations that were closing down and seeking like-minded charities to give their remaining donations to, Something Good in the World was able this year to open up a Blue Sky Fund. The SGITW Board of Directors had the special opportunity, for the first time, to have a meeting to envision what we could do with contributions that were for “Blue Sky” projects; programs that we had always wished we could get off the ground if we had the support, envisioning a future of expanding Something Good further into the world.
In the continuing effort to write about the refugees from Central America, to keep telling the stories of the unaccompanied minors who come to our Earth School-to-Farm programs, I am struck this week by the fact that they are children… The statistics are alienating, because we just read numbers and those distance us from the […]