Hard to believe that the time has gone so fast and we only have 1 month be- fore we leave for Africa! What seemed like an unre- alistic dream of Ian’s in August, has become a huge project involving amazing generosity of 100s of peo- ple around the world. So far we know that Ian, Lara, along with Ian’s best friend, Sam, and his mom, Judy will be going to Liberia. Shane’s friend, Toure, who has been Shane’s friend at GM since college, has a son (Caleb) who is think- ing about joining us. 3 peo- ple from our church here in Shanghai are also con- sidering going with us, but have not committed yet. We hope they can join us—many hands make work light, and many bags make it possible to bring the many donations we have gotten! Chris Mar- shall, the original person Ian contacted from Kids Around the World will meet us there to make sure we properly build the playground. Sam and Judy just got back last night from Christmas Holiday, so we will start meeting a few times a week for planning and praying. We’re excited about going, but still a bit uncertain at what lies be- fore us. None of the 4 of us have been to Africa be- fore. We have a great op- portunity to meet many high level officials and we are not sure where that will lead. We hope to be a good influence on Liberia’s future. Sam and Ian before their 5th grade trip What We Are Focusing on in the Next Month Feb. 5- Leave for Liberia Feb. 6 to 9- Build playground Feb. 10- Playground dedication ceremony Other days in Liberia- Viewing a session of their Senate, speaking at schools, hospitals, and an orphanage, going to visit the churches pastored by Senator Jah’s husband and Gerald’s Father, boys getting to play a game of soccer with local kids. Feb. 15- Leave Liberia Feb. 17 -Return to Shanghai 1 Month Countdown to Liberia Needs to still be filled We would welcome anyone who would like to join us! A way to ship all of the generous donations we have received (books, clothes, mosquito nets, etc.) We still need about $25,000 USD to cover the costs of shipping and the 98,000 meals we will be have shipped and will distribute. The Playground will be in Kakata, Magabi County. Dates to Remember
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Building a Playground in Liberia: Imagination. Play. Service
A relationship started it all. Gerald and Ian. A need stated. A faith of a child. A dream started: imagination! Insightful learning. Effective communication. Imagination. IMAGINATION! Creativity. Reflecting. Sense of self. Social skills. Collaboration. Problem solving. Connecting to people and places. Learning to care and be cared for as an active global citizen. Education jargon to some, sincere words of mission for others...especially educators. These are not only the words of the ESLRs (Expected Student Learning Results) for Concordia International School Shanghai, they can be found on websites like http://www.kidsafewa.com.au - a site dedicated to the safety of kids on playgrounds in western Australia. This article is the 1-month-to-go Update of a child's effort to meet the need of building a playground in Liberia. https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/KidsAroundtheWorld/OnlineGiving.html
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Transcript
Hard to believe that the
time has gone so fast and
we only have 1 month be-
fore we leave for Africa!
What seemed like an unre-
alistic dream of Ian’s in
August, has become a huge
project involving amazing
generosity of 100s of peo-
ple around the world. So
far we know that Ian, Lara,
along with Ian’s best friend,
Sam, and his mom, Judy
will be going to Liberia.
Shane’s friend, Toure, who
has been Shane’s friend at
GM since college, has a
son (Caleb) who is think-
ing about joining us. 3 peo-
ple from our church here
in Shanghai are also con-
sidering going with us, but
have not committed yet.
We hope they can join
us—many hands make
work light, and many bags
make it possible to bring
the many donations we
have gotten! Chris Mar-
shall, the original person
Ian contacted from Kids
Around the World will
meet us there to make
sure we properly build the
playground.
Sam and Judy just got back
last night from Christmas
Holiday, so we will start
meeting a few times a
week for planning and
praying. We’re excited
about going, but still a bit
uncertain at what lies be-
fore us. None of the 4 of
us have been to Africa be-
fore. We have a great op-
portunity to meet many
high level officials and we
are not sure where that
will lead. We hope to be a
good influence on Liberia’s
future.
Sam and Ian before
their 5th grade trip
What We Are Focusing on in the Next Month Feb. 5- Leave for Liberia Feb. 6 to 9- Build playground
Feb. 10- Playground
dedication ceremony
Other days in Liberia- Viewing a session of their
Senate, speaking at
schools, hospitals, and an orphanage, going to visit
the churches pastored by Senator Jah’s husband and
Gerald’s Father, boys getting to play a game of
soccer with local kids.
Feb. 15- Leave Liberia
Feb. 17 -Return to Shanghai
1 Month Countdown to Liberia
Needs to still be filled
We would welcome anyone
who would like to join us!
A way to ship all of the
generous donations we
have received (books,
clothes, mosquito nets,
etc.)
We still need about
$25,000 USD to cover
the costs of shipping and
the 98,000 meals we will
be have shipped and will
distribute.
The
Playground
will be in
Kakata,
Magabi
County.
Dates to
Remember
September - Sam convinced his
mom Judy that they should join
us on the trip. He was willing to
come with us even without his
mom! Judy is an amazing musi-
cian and it will be so great to
have another trusted adult with
me! Ian and Sam together make
a great team!
October - We headed to Nepal
to meet our friend and Ian’s for-
mer Principal, Gretchen Schlie.
Ian got to present his project to
a small group one night at her
apartment and then at the
school she works at. We had a
layover in Thailand on the way
back. We met a lady at our Ko-
rean friend, CJ’s home. She had
just moved to Bangkok 4 days
before. When CJ told his other
guests about Ian’s project, this
lady said she gotten an email
about Ian a few days before she
left the US. I found this unlikely,
since she came from Pennsylva-
nia, in a town we don’t know
anyone. However, when we re-
turned home, we got word that
we had 2 donors from her town
- we don’t know either of them!
Gerald, our friend from Liberia
that has inspired this project,
told us his son
was very sick and
in the hospital
due to malaria.
We are so thank-
ful he recovered
from this! It
made it clear we need be on ma-
laria meds when we go! I used to
tutor Gerald’s son, Willie via E-
mail. He recently graduated from
High School and I want to get to
meet him in person!
Ian also got an invitation to
speak about the project at
PingHe, which is a local school
behind his. He spoke to the 6th
and 9th graders in the bi-lingual
program. We also found out
that the President of Liberia
(Ellen Johnson Sirleaf) will be
attending the dedication of the
playground, which she requested
be on Feb. 10th, so our dates
changed to Feb 5-17. Ian also has
been requested to visit her office
as soon as we land in Liberia.
October 31st, 2012 the shipment
left the US bound for Monrovia,
Liberia!
November – The original plan
for the container was to pack
and ship in the begin-
ning of November, but
they wanted to make
sure it would arrive in
time, so they bor-
rowed food that was
already packed for a
project in Haiti, but not being
shipped until later. The packing
party for our food to replace
that food was held at Fenton
High School, in Bensenville, Illi-
nois, and Ian’s Grandma Esther
and her friend drove down from
Wisconsin to help package the
98,000 meals that fit into the
container.
What Has Happened Since the First E-mail?
“Don’t let anyone look down on you
because you are young, but set an
example for the believers in speech, in
conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
I Timothy 4:12
This is more than just a nice gesture on Ian’s part, this playground has the
potential to change the future of his generation in Liberia - you can read
more at www.kidsafewa.com.au/playgroundimportance.htm. This article
states that playing together on the playground, kids learn to communicate,
collaborate, and empathize with others. They also learn problem solving
skills and increase imagination. Other articles state that kids who do not
have enough free play time with peers do not ever develop good negotia-
tion abilities, even as adults. Their parents endured 13 year of civil war–