It has been a telling time for Canada.
In a week where our jets have flown off to yet another Middle Eastern conflict and as a nation we’ve never so openly grieved for fellow citizens in uniform murdered in cold blood, let’s face it, we could use some good news. We need reassurance that our values, however shaken, remain strong.
And reassurance we’ve received, both on large, and very small personal stages.
To see our prime minister so close to tears in the past days, we’ve finally found a leader in Stephen Harper who has never looked so strong, even to those who may disagree with his policies.
To see a staged YouTube video where so many young people on the streets of Toronto came to the aid of a young Muslim being harassed by an actor pretending to be a racist warmed the heart. Some may have secretly cheered from the sidelines as one young man popped the actor in the nose. We don’t ever condone such violence, but sometimes ...
And on a very small scale in a St. Albert classroom, the Gazette discovered a profound truth about our country: We care about others.
That’s a lesson not missed by the 30 or so grades 5 and 6 students in Ă©lise Moquin’s class at Ă©cole La Mission francophone school. Earlier this week the students were asked to read news reports they had written about their fundraising efforts to send a group of Grade 11 and 12 students from Ecole Maurice Lavallee to Nicaragua. The high school students leave for the Western Hemisphere’s second poorest country this weekend and, once there, will put a new coat of paint on Divino Ninos school in the community of Cinco Pinos. The younger students made and sold colourful, elastic-band Rainbow Loom bracelets at $5 each and raised more than $700 to go towards the project.
Some of the children’s reports were more thorough than others, and some of the students struggled with the words a bit, because English is obviously not their first language. Their thoughts and conviction, however, spoke most eloquently.
Sidney spoke of “How to paint a school within 6,727 km.” Alexandre told the class how “the white walls will reflect some of the supreme heat away.” The bright and confident young Janie read about creating “a fun and stimulating learning environment.”
Perhaps the most heartfelt message came from David, who was very concerned that the older students properly calculate the amount of paint they needed “for the kids who don’t have anything in their classes.”
The words of these very young people from St. Albert, just beginning to understand the great gaps in opportunity between the richest and poorest communities of the world, can reassure an old heart after a very difficult few weeks. In their own ways, these students do care what happens beyond themselves.
To paraphrase the hippy baby boom song, maybe we do teach our children well.
